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Topic starter
29/01/2026 4:01 pm
Dominion Energy proposes to squeeze a 500 kV +230 kV lines into an extremely narrow 120 foot right of way through the entirety of Stafford County, Virginia, with its North Anna Kraken loop project -- bringing the lines directly over the property of 5 schools and 864 homes in the County. I can't find where anyone, anywhere has ever tried to do something this crazy. Here are some examples:
- 500kV lines commonly use a 175 or 200-foot right of way.
- "Rights of way for multiple transmission lines are generally wider."
- "200-250 feet" with 130-160 foot towers
- 500 kV - "100-150 feet" Error corrected 3/11/26 "150-180 feet"
- 500 kV - "160 to 200 feet typical right of way width"
- ordered undergrounding of a single 500 kV powerline in a 150 foot easement that would put 200 homes within the engineered fall distance of 190 foot poles
- 80 meters, or 262 feet
- Carolinas -500 to 525 kV lines typically require a 180- to 200 foot corridor
- Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky - 230 kV lines typically require a 150-foot corridor
- Florida - 500,000-volt lines typically require a 170-foot corridor
Dominion Energy
- The original Arkendale project, which consists of segments 5 and 6 of the proposed Kraken route, was for a single 500kV line to be placed within a 335 foot easement, limited to a total of 750 kV within the route. Today, Dominion is trying to ram nearly 750 kV through 120 feet, next to homes and schools.
- Dominion easement guidelines require that nothing, not even landscape plants, be within 50 feet of any pole or structure it creates.
Where the NESC does not have tables defining minimum safe distances specific distances from buildings, it instructs power companies to use Rule 012c and follow "accepted good practice". The Kraken route clearly does not.
Topic starter
11/03/2026 1:29 pm
I requested and received a copy of the engineering standard for BC Hydro, which indicates how safe setbacks for buildings are calculated from the core of 500kV powerlines utilizing IEEE standards. They calculated a setback of 22.5 meters for a typical two story house, which is a minimum safe distance of 74 feet horizontally from transmission wires (this would require the Kraken ROW to be about 180 feet for safety, with more space for the 230 kV line they also propose). This seems to be the typical calculation everywhere, except for here where Dominion is doing something sketchy.
A map of all 500 KV power lines is available at https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=d4090758322c4d32a4cd002ffaa0aa12 . It is no longer actively maintained, however, it will be a valuable research tool if it becomes necessary to show that Dominion has failed to follow NESC guidelines regarding "accepted good practice" -- ie, nobody else is trying to squeeze 500 KV +230 kV into a 120 foot right of way with lines 40 feet horizontally from homes like the Kraken.
It's clear that Dominion is using some sort of fuzzy math to get the calculations it wants to meet IEEE and NESC guidelines, and their calculations must be carefully scrutinized by the SCC
