January 13, 2026 Supporting Data Center Connections with New Transmission
L.E. Myers constructs two new 230kV transmission lines in Virginia
Building new transmission is essential to meeting growing power needs in many parts of the country, particularly in areas like Virginia where there are many data center clusters.
MYR Group subsidiary The L.E. Myers Co (L.E. Myers) supported that growth as the prime contractor for the Chase City to Cloud transmission project for Dominion Energy. They managed all access, foundations and environmental work, and self-performed the line construction of two new 230kV transmission lines running side by side for almost 15 miles. The project also included relocating and reconfiguring about a half mile of 115kV transmission connected to the Chase City substation.
The new transmission lines support a nearby data center customer in a state where growing power needs continue to require new and upgraded power infrastructure. A typical transmission line would be a double circuit with one set of poles, but the scope of work was adjusted to two circuits running side by side to reduce potential power outages to the facility.
L.E. Myers constructed these circuits on single steel monopole and utilized a helicopter subcontractor to fly all the lead lines for wire pulls. Line construction involved two complex crossings: a highway crossing and four, 115kV transmission lines – two of which needed to remain energized during the wire pull. The team also overcame unexpected delays when a batch of concrete used for some foundations was unable to reach full strength.
The entire project was performed safely (zero recordables, lost time or first aid incidents).
Experience, Planning and Communication Overcome Complexities
L.E. Myers brought an experienced team to the Chase City to Cloud project, and their expert planning, problem solving and communication led to the project’s success.
The project required 218 foundations and 201 poles and would include tying into the Chase City and Cloud substations, as well as tapping into a third substation.
The line would need to cross Highway 58 – a four-lane divided highway near Boydton, Va. with a large median and right of way (ROW). The L.E. Myers team applied their extensive line construction experience to develop the best plan to pull the new lines across the busy highway.
They worked with a third-party traffic control team to implement a series of eight rolling roadblocks with 15-minute windows of slowed traffic and managed all the communication with the helicopter pilot to fly all eight lead lines across during those intervals.
Their planning, communication and coordination paid off and the wire pulls were completed successfully and safely.
The most difficult element of the Chase City to Cloud project would be bringing the new 230kV lines over four existing 115kV lines. Only two of those 115kV lines could be deenergized during the pull. Two would remain energized, making the crossing more difficult.
The poles for the 115kV lines were 120 feet tall, so L.E. Myers needed to maintain sufficient clearance above all four lines as they pulled the new wire. The team developed a very detailed work plan to complete the pull safely.
Communication was crucial and involved the customer, the L.E. Myers team and the helicopter company. Before the wire pull took place, more than 30 team members discussed the plan onsite to identify any potential problems, hazards, and to discuss hazard mitigations and solutions.
During the wire pull, cranes with bat wings were used as guard structures as a precaution in case anything was to break or fall. The helicopter flew all eight ropes across the existing lines and the team pulled the wire, sagged it and clipped it properly and safely so that there were no unplanned outages.
L.E. Myers also found solutions to an unexpected challenge. After discovering the concrete on an installed foundation was not strong enough, they tested 10 additional foundations for strength and had to break out and redo two of them. While the concrete issue delayed pole-setting and wire stringing for that section of the project, L.E. Myers rearranged the order of some of the remaining linework and performed wire pulls in another section of the project to successfully meet all the outage schedules.
Due to L.E. Myers’ strong project management and execution of the work, Dominion Energy asked them to perform additional 230kV double circuit upgrades at three substations while they were still working in the area with its growing energy needs.