Tired of Valley Link’s glossy PR spam clogging your feed? Don’t worry — some very generous donors are riding to the rescue with a full summer media campaign featuring the actual people whose land is being seized under the Dominion/Valley Link eminent domain playbook.
Go ahead and take a look at one of their first spots. Stunning work.
Meanwhile, the rage across rural central Virginia keeps getting louder by the day.
Side Note: The tag line is a 10 out of 10!
Big Towers
Big Risk
Big Mistake
Block Valley Link
#BlockValleyLink
@BlackVaNews@GovernorVA Make sure you don't sign a bill that eliminates local authority over substations. That is being talked about as a give-take for eliminating the tax credit. Dominion Energy, a for-profit company, would just love that, at the expense of private citizens land being seized.
@NickMinock Every single time a locality green lights one of these data centers it means another transmission line will be run for power and private citizens land will be seized by eminent domain.
A lot of people across central Virginia are angry, anxious, and feeling beaten down as we face the Valley Link monstrosity and the interests behind it. But there’s real, widespread resistance out there.
Just a few weeks ago at Grave’s Mountain Music Festival, I had the chance to sit down personally with Junior Sisk on his tour bus. A friend introduced us, and I explained to him — directly — what this fight is really about: farms being sliced apart, families losing their livelihood's, and our rural communities being steamrolled. He didn’t just listen politely. He was visibly outraged by what I told him.
Later that evening, during his set, Junior played Ralph Stanley’s “Shot-gun Slade.” When he finished, I spoke with him again to tell him what a treat it was to be there, and he told me that song was “for you.” I believe he meant it was for all of us in central Virginia.
Coming from a man like Junior Sisk, after hearing the story straight from me, that wasn’t just a song. It was a clear signal of where he stands.
https://t.co/7CBCmE806I
#blockvalleylink
Private Equity Firm Profiting from Valley Link Land Seizure?
In a post on Feb 27th, right after this whole fiasco landed in our laps, I noted that it’s hardly a coincidence the proposed Valley Link “bulk energy distribution hub” (a.k.a. the giant substation) called Yeat just happens to sit smack in the middle of a Federal Opportunity Zone in Culpeper county.
Quick refresher: any “infrastructure investment” in an Opportunity Zone gets a sweet 10-year federal tax holiday. What a deal.
What I didn’t know then is that a private investment shark already has a massive piece of the action. Meet Brookfield Infrastructure Partners—specifically its Brookfield Super-Core Infrastructure Partners fund (BSIP)—which holds an indirect but very real ~17% economic interest in Valley Link LLC. They get there through a nearly 50% stake in FirstEnergy Transmission, LLC (FET), which itself owns 34% of Valley Link.
In plain English: Brookfield funnels long-term capital to First Energy Transmission so it can help bankroll this lovely land-seizure project. That’s right in line with Brookfield's global playbook—snapping up regulated utility monopolies and printing money.
The entire messy affair including the 'receipts' and a letter to Brookfield requesting comment can be read here:
https://t.co/GSXYVhecYQ
#blockvalleylink
The Valley Link nine county barn fire is starting to roar! Apparently politicians are starting to listen, yes, I know, shocking. Read the whole story here: https://t.co/qgMjiALa9V
#blockvalleylink