An Open Letter To Campbell County Board of Supervisors

Paul McDonald

Block Valley Link

June 3, 2026

Board of Supervisors

County of Campbell

47 Courthouse Lane

Suite 1

Rustburg, VA 24588

Dear Members of the Board of Supervisors:

I write to urge you, in the strongest possible terms, to reject the proposed location of the new Joshua Falls substation in Campbell County.

This substation is not a minor rural waypoint along the 765 kV Joshua Falls to Yeat transmission line. It is the intended origin of a major bulk energy distribution corridor that will serve not only the current line traversing nine central Virginia counties, but also multiple future 500 kV and 230 kV transmission lines required to supply planned data centers located east and south of your jurisdiction. The selected site—a large timber tract bordered by working farms and family residences—will permanently industrialize that rural landscape and subject the county to successive rounds of eminent domain for infrastructure that provides no meaningful benefit to Campbell County residents.

You need look no further than the detailed presentation delivered yesterday morning to the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors by the Culpeper Richardsville Coalition. Mike Regan, Frank Twomey, and their colleagues conducted an exhaustive review of PJM Interconnection’s own planning documents. Their findings are unambiguous: the proposed “super” substation at Culpeper Yeat will convert that county into a high-voltage transmission and distribution hub, with additional lines crossing its farmland to serve load centers elsewhere. The same fate awaits Campbell County if the Joshua Falls substation is approved.

Your Board possesses full authority to deny the substation application. Neither the Governor nor the State Corporation Commission may override a deliberate local decision on this matter. The future rural character of Campbell County therefore rests squarely in your hands.

To protect that character, I respectfully recommend the following immediate actions:

1. Adopt and transmit to PJM Interconnection the substance of the draft letter now being sent by Culpeper County, stating unequivocally that Campbell County will not approve the Joshua Falls substation as proposed.

2. Adopt a formal resolution declaring that Campbell County refuses to serve as a transmission corridor or bulk energy distribution hub for projects benefiting jurisdictions outside its borders.

The citizens you represent will be spared years of litigation, property condemnations, and irreversible degradation of their rural landscape. They will have you to thank.

The full video of the presentations to the Culpeper Board of Supervisors as well as the draft letter to PJM is available for your immediate review here: 

https://blockvalleylink.org/campbell

Should you require any additional information or supporting documentation, please contact me without hesitation at the email address below.

Sincerely,

Paul McDonald

Block Valley Link

paul@BlockValleyLink.org

BlockValleyLink.org