Survey Finds Overwhelming Opposition to Dominion's North Anna to Bristers Transmission Line Project
Fully 93% of respondents are opposed to the project, formerly known as Kraken Loop.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
Email Adele
Stafford citizens who responded to a county-issued survey about Dominion Energy’s North Anna to Bristers power line project are overwhelmingly opposed to it. Responses to the survey were collected on paper and via an online survey accessed via QR code over a two-week period.
Out of 465 respondents, 93% indicated that they were “very or somewhat unfavorable” of the proposed project. Just 3% were favorable of the project, while 5% had no opinion or were unsure.
The Board of Supervisors will discuss the survey responses at its meeting on Tuesday.
Supervisors in December approved a resolution expressing opposition to “alignments of the Project that negatively impact Stafford” and requesting additional engagement from Dominion. Last week, supervisors asked the Planning Commission to consider draft Comprehensive Plan amendments that would designate where in the county such power lines can go.
County attorney Rysheda McClendon told supervisors that the State Corporation Commission will take localities’ comprehensive plans into consideration when they review plans for the project. Dominion is expected to submit plans to the SCC in July, she said. There will be opportunity for public testimony in opposition to the project.
According to proposed plans, the North Anna to Bristers transmission line will be installed in Stafford in sections, first running from south to north through the George Washington and Aquia districts, and then from east to west across the county through the Garrisonville and Rock Hill districts.
The most concentrated and engaged opposition to the project came from residents living near segment 5 of the proposed transmission line, which runs close to communities including Embrey Mill and Augustine and a number of public schools, including Hampton Oaks, Winding Creek, and Margaret Brent elementary schools, Rodney Thompson and H. H. Poole middle schools, and Mountain View High School.
Common themes among all respondents, according to the county staff report on the survey, were concerns about property values; health and safety; proximity to vulnerable populations, such as children with special needs; environmental and wildlife impacts; quality of life impacts; and confusion and lack of trust.
Respondents in segment 5 of the project were more likely to report “direct property impacts, to cite schools and children as a primary concern, and to support underground construction,” according to the report.
“Segment 5 respondents also show greater readiness to escalate engagement, including higher intent to attend future meetings and provide SCC testimony,” the report states. “These patterns indicate that Segment 5 experiences the project as immediate and unavoidable, positioning it as the highest-risk area for sustained opposition and regulatory engagement.”
The survey responses indicate that support for the project would increase “dramatically” if the transmission lines run underground.
About 17% of the respondents said Dominion currently holds an easement on their property, and 30% were unsure.
Delegate Stacey Annie Carroll, who represents part of Stafford County in the General Assembly, will hold a town hall on the North Anna to Bristers project on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Colonial Forge High School, and Dominion will hold an in-person community meeting on Monday, May 11, from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Hampton Inn and Conference Center at 2965 Richmond Highway.
Local Obituaries
To view local obituaries or to send a note to family and loved ones, please visit the link that follows.
Running power lines underground in a warming climate is the only sensible strategy. Those screeching that it will be more expensive should consider that public utilities started as public-private partnerships, with broad mandates for the public good. Utility companies have recently "forgotten" that they are not for-profit corporations. As Rage Against The Machine once said, we got to take the power back.