Campbell County Supervisors to Vote Against Valley Link
Updated: Oct 4
Campbell County is finally putting opposition to the Valley Link 765 kV line on the record. On Tuesday, October 6, the Board of Supervisors will vote on a resolution that does what neighboring counties have already done: reject the idea that Campbell should be carved up as a pass-through corridor so Northern Virginia data centers can keep the lights on.
The draft is blunt. It should pass. Residents should be in the room, and on the phone, to make sure it does.
The resolution, requested by Concord Supervisor Matt Cline after the September 1 meeting, is titled “Resolution of the Campbell County Board of Supervisors Opposing Proposed Valley Link Transmission Project.” County staff notes that every other locality along the proposed route has already acted against the project. Campbell is the holdout. That changes Tuesday, if the board follows through.
Both proposed paths for the Valley Link monstrosity start at the Joshua Falls substation in Campbell County and require a significant, permanently cleared right-of-way.
The resolution states the obvious about who this line is for. The primary driver is bulk power for rapidly increasing demand in Northern Virginia, driven largely by data center development and load growth outside this region. It “provides no direct energy benefit to the residents, businesses, or agricultural operations of Campbell County,” while asking this community to bear the construction and the permanent presence of the line.
The board’s findings match what landowners have been saying for months. Residents have raised financial, environmental, visual, cultural, historical, and health concerns.
The board finds the project would damage quality of life and property values, and cause irreparable harm to the county’s natural beauty, rural character, scenic viewsheds, agricultural heritage, and working forestlands. It also restates the board’s duty to protect the health, safety, property rights, and quality of life of its citizens.
The resolved clauses are the part that matters for the State Corporation Commission:
The board formally opposes construction and routing of the Joshua Falls–Yeat 765 kV line as currently proposed.
It strongly objects to using Campbell County as a pass-through utility corridor built to serve Northern Virginia at the lasting expense of local residents, property owners, and agricultural producers.
It urges Valley Link and the SCC to abandon the project, reject the proposed route, and fully explore alternatives that do not harm the welfare, economy, health, and beauty of Campbell County.
Copies go to the SCC, Valley Link, the Governor, and Campbell County’s members of the General Assembly.
Timing is the point. The final route has not yet been filed with the SCC. Staff is clear that the county does not control the route through zoning; this vote is an expression of local opposition meant to inform the SCC before the utility locks in a preferred path.
Dominion and its partners have already been adjusting routes in other counties. A unanimous, or even a strong, Campbell vote, sent before the filing, is harder to wave away than silence.
Five residents are already scheduled to speak on the item: Rick and Cheryl Summy, Becky Nix, Meghan Leatherwood, and Shelly Evans. They should not be the only ones the board hears from.
Show up Tuesday.
Campbell County Board of Supervisors
Tuesday, October 6, 2026, 6:00 p.m.
Board room, lower level, Haberer Building
47 Courthouse Lane, Rustburg, VA 24588
The meeting is open to the public. A view-only Zoom link is posted with the agenda in the county Agenda Center. Call County Administration at 434-332-9525 or email administration@campbellcountyva.gov if you need the link or want to confirm public-comment procedure for this item.
Call or email your supervisor before the vote and tell them to support the resolution as written. Ask them not to soften the language that calls for the project to be abandoned and the route rejected. While you're at it, mention that pesky new Joshua Falls substation and ask them to oppose that also.
Tom Lawton, Chairman, Altavista — 434-509-9293 — tklawton@co.campbell.va.us
Charlie A. Watts II, Vice-Chairman, Brookneal — 434-942-0840 — cawatts@campbellcountyva.gov
Matt Cline, Concord — 434-515-1346 — mwcline@campbellcountyva.gov
Jon Hardie, Rustburg — 434-525-3857 — jrhardie@co.campbell.va.us
Kenny Brown, Spring Hill — 434-546-3101 — krbrown@campbellcountyva.gov
Paul E. Dowdy, Sunburst — 434-660-4792 — pedowdy@campbellcountyva.gov
Justin Carwile, Timberlake — 434-363-2226 — jacarwile@campbellcountyva.gov
You can also write the full board through administration@campbellcountyva.gov or the Office of the County Administrator, P.O. Box 100, Rustburg, VA 24588.
The draft resolution is on the October 6 agenda packet, link here: https://www.campbellcountyva.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_10062026-727?html=true Read it. Then make sure the board hears, before it votes, that Campbell County is not a spare right-of-way for someone else’s data centers.
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