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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Fairfax County supervisor whose district includes the proposed Edsall Road data center substation has asked the county Planning Commission to recommend denying it.
Mason District Supervisor Andres Jimenez released the statement Thursday, saying he is not convinced Dominion Energy has fully exhausted alternative sites, co-location opportunities or design modifications before settling on the Edsall Road location. He asked the commission to recommend denial of the utility's 2232 application in its current form.
"Reliable electric service is essential, and I recognize the need to invest in infrastructure that supports our growing region," Jimenez said in the statement. "But that responsibility must be balanced with our obligation to protect the neighborhoods where people live, raise families, and build their communities."
The statement said residents have raised sustained concerns about visual impacts, noise, lighting, environmental effects and the cumulative burden of additional utility infrastructure in the area, and that Jimenez shares those concerns. It said the county has a responsibility to ensure major infrastructure decisions affecting residential neighborhoods are made only after every reasonable alternative has been rigorously vetted.
"The people who live in these neighborhoods should not be asked to accept a project of this magnitude unless every reasonable alternative has been fully explored," Jimenez said.
Jimenez had not previously taken a public position on the application. Asked about the project by WJLA-TV in late July, he said all stakeholders should have an opportunity to be heard and that county staff should evaluate the proposal against the county's adopted ordinance and applicable regulations.
Alexandria officials had urged denial
The statement follows several requests that the commission reject the application.
Rep. Don Beyer, a Democrat who represents Alexandria and part of Fairfax County, wrote to the commission July 30 citing concerns about the project's potential impact on residents. A coalition of 33 civic and environmental groups wrote to the county's planning director July 27. Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins sent the City Council's letter Aug. 3, writing that heavy industrial use in close proximity to a densely populated area of Alexandria residents is reason not to support the application.
Alexandria City Councilman Abdel Elnoubi shared Jimenez's statement on Instagram and wrote that he met with the supervisor this week to make the case directly. "I'm grateful he's listening to residents on both sides of the line," Elnoubi wrote. Jimenez's statement does not mention Alexandria or any meeting.
Ryan Belmore
What happens next
The Mason District Land Use Committee meets Sept. 22 to vote on whether to recommend approval or denial. The Planning Commission holds a public hearing and votes at 7 p.m. Sept. 24.
Under Virginia Code § 15.2-2232(B), if the commission denies the application, the applicant or utility has 10 days to appeal to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, where Jimenez holds the Mason District seat.
The review determines whether the substation's general location, character and extent are in substantial accord with the county's Comprehensive Plan.
The project
Starwood Capital Group filed permit applications and building plans with Fairfax County in July for the 34-acre Plaza 500 site at 6299 Edsall Road in Lincolnia, which borders Alexandria's West End. The application is for Plaza 500 South, the first of two data center buildings, at 226,469 square feet and 75 feet tall. Data center use at the site is permitted by right under existing zoning, which is why opposition has focused on the substation.
Dominion Energy has said the substation and new transmission lines are needed to meet the data center's load and would connect to the existing Van Dorn substation. Transmission lines between the two sites received State Corporation Commission approval in August 2025.
At a July 28 Mason District Land Use Committee meeting attended by more than 100 residents, Dominion siting and permitting specialist Christa McDonald was asked about co-locating at Van Dorn and said there were no current projects to expand that substation. SCC case files show Dominion evaluated a Van Dorn expansion and rejected it, citing topography, stormwater management, permitting and zoning challenges, and cost.
Residents at that meeting said the substation would be built 67 feet from a residential area. Fairfax County standards adopted in 2025 require substations to be at least 100 feet from residential property lines.
Mason District Planning Commissioner Alis Wang, who also serves on the land use committee, told The Connection in a July 30 email that Dominion's presentation lacked detail and left many basic questions from the public unanswered.
Starwood Digital Ventures, which develops the project, has said the substation is designed to strengthen power reliability for essential services, small businesses and residents in the surrounding community, and that it remains committed to engaging with the county and its residents.
