Prince William County residents packed a Nokesville rally Thursday night to push back against Dominion Energy’s proposed 6.5-mile transmission line. The line would link a substation in Nokesville to another near data centers off Hornbaker Road outside Manassas. State Senators Jeremy McPike and Danica Roem, plus Board Chair Deshundra Jefferson, spoke out against it. Locals say they’ve had enough of the data center boom and the power infrastructure that comes with it.

This is the latest chapter in Northern Virginia’s data center story. Just days earlier the State Corporation Commission green-lit another transmission line in Loudoun County despite strong opposition from residents and local officials worried about homes and schools. Data centers already built or under construction are sitting on waiting lists because the grid simply doesn’t hav ...