The Golden-to-Mars Testimony Starts Today

Happy New Year, everyone!

Well - we are here.

Today is the first day of the evidentiary portion of the Golden-to-Mars hearing in front of the Virginia State Corporation Commission.

Start time: 10:00 AM Watch live here: https://www.scc.virginia.gov/case-information/webcasting/ Future days may begin at 9:00 AM but they have not confirmed start times yet.

But first, thank you.

We have come a long way in a relatively short period of time. Nothing would have been possible without the many people who dedicated so much time and effort to this week in and week out. And each and every one of you who came out, spoke, cheered, encouraged others and showed what a powerful force we could all be - you each had a huge part in this.

And also thank you to those who signed up for telephonic testimony. While the testimony process was frustrating, we clearly made a point. SCC staff told us they've never seen a response like this in years of handling these cases. They were genuinely struggling with how to manage it.

But we are not celebrating yet. We need to keep going - and keep the focus and attention on this proceeding.

The Commission has established an order for testimony. Dominion will go first, followed by Loudoun County's representatives. Loudoun Valley Estates will follow.

Based on what we know right now, we expect Dominion and the County to take at least today and Friday, and we expect our turn on either Monday or Tuesday. This is one of those situations where we will learn more as we go - so we will keep everyone updated the best we can as things firm up.

We had hoped to organize a bus to Richmond, but without date certainty, that proved difficult. That said, many residents are planning to carpool down for our testimony day, and we'd love to have as many people there as possible. We'll share carpool coordination details in the next update once we confirm timing.

One more encouraging update: this week we spoke with the former Mayor of Chino Hills, California, along with the City Manager and Assistant City Manager. As many of you know, Chino Hills is the first example of undergrounding 500kV lines in the United States - and the parallels to what we are facing are extraordinary.

They even had their own "Statue of Liberty" image and t-shirts.

Look familiar?

Most importantly: their experience was a reminder that when regulators step back and look at the full picture, there can be solutions that make sense long-term for everyone involved.

In their case, it took more time and cost more - but it ultimately worked for all sides: the community, the utility, and the industry. Years later, what could have been massive overhead towers is now community green space, with the infrastructure still doing its job. While the community did have to accept some tradeoffs, those impacts are now largely an afterthought. Nearby areas where they did not underground have seen very different, long-term outcomes. A powerful reminder of why residents should not be asked to carry all of the negative burden when alternatives exist.

There has been a lot of other activity over the holidays as well. We continued to focus on several important areas in the lead-up to the hearing.

So stay tuned.

We have a few other important community updates coming soon.