Life in the Dark Ages: Dominion Addresses Outrage Over Outages

Power outages plagued Hollin Hills all summer — and while they usually only lasted for a few hours, there were dozens of them, and quickly became an ongoing annoyance. After a flood of complaints, Dominion Energy held a “Town Hall” meeting with area residents — including members of the Civic Association Board, Del. Paul Krizek, Sen. Scott Surovell and other Hollin Hillers — at the Sherwood Regional Library on September 2, to discuss the problem and explain what they were doing to remedy it.

The Hollin Hills Bulletin reports that, of the 25 outages experienced this summer, Dominion said 17 were caused by trees or branches falling on power lines. The others, says the Bulletin, were “a smorgasbord of equipment malfunctions and stoppages to put the system back online.” The disruptions were compounded by the fact that Dominion has no backup station to switch to in the event of an outage.

What can be done? Some power lines in Hollin Hills have been undergrounded, but because our circuit runs through a mix of public and private land, says Dominion, itʼs almost impossible to secure the necessary easements to underground the entire length of cable. But Dominion is working on a new substation near Hollin Hall, which would allow power to come on more quickly; the substation is scheduled for completion in early 2027. Dominion is also planning a full “circuit trim” of area trees in the last quarter of 2026; the last such full trim was done in 2023.

Communication systems are also in the process of being upgraded and modernized, reports the Bulletin, so we should expect to receive clearer updates by text (if you sign up for it) by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, residents are taking matters into their own hands, installing generators and whole-house backup batteries to get them through the outages.