How do I get power to raw land?
Start by confirming which electric utility holds the certificated territory the parcel sits in, then apply to that utility. In Virginia no public utility may begin service without a State Corporation Commission certificate, and none is granted inside another holder's territory unless that holder's service is proved inadequate. The serving utility's filed terms set any line extension cost, and the county building official sets the electrical inspection sequence.
A certificate, not the nearest pole, decides who can serve
Getting power to raw land starts with a rule about who may serve it, and that rule settles who you call before any question of cost.
No public utility shall begin to furnish public utility service within the Commonwealth without first having obtained from the Commission a certificate of public convenience and necessity authorizing it to furnish such service.
Va. Code 56-265.3
The next section of the Code closes the obvious workaround. No certificate is granted to an applicant proposing to operate in another holder's territory:
unless and until it shall be proved to the satisfaction of the Commission that the service rendered by such certificate holder in such territory is inadequate to the requirements of the public necessity and convenience
Va. Code 56-265.4
That makes the first question about a parcel whose territory it sits in, not whose line is nearest. The certificate holder for that ground is the utility to apply to.
Confirming the territory for one parcel
There is a statewide map, and it says plainly what it is not. The State Corporation Commission's electric service territory map, sourced to 2020, carries this line:
Disclaimer: This is an approximation, please contact the Division of Public Utility Regulation for official electric territory maps.
State Corporation Commission, electric service territory map
The SCC regulates investor-owned electric companies, Appalachian Power Company among them, and member-owned electric cooperatives. County plans speak at a broader scale. Carroll County's 2024 comprehensive plan says the Appalachian Electric Power (AEP) system provides electricity for the county; Grayson's 2024 plan names American Electric Power at the Grayson County Industrial Park in Independence; Floyd's plan says Appalachian Power supplies the Floyd PSA's water system; and Wythe's plan says American Electric Power operates the transmission lines crossing that county.
Electric territory is a separate question from water and sewer, which run on their own lines from their own providers; what public water and sewer available means covers that side.
The serving utility's filed terms price the line to the building site
Once the utility is known, the application goes to it, and so does every question about cost.
How far a utility extends a line, what the owner pays for, and what right-of-way the utility needs for its facilities are set by the utility's filed tariff and terms of service. A footage allowance or a cost heard secondhand is no substitute for the figure the serving utility gives for the specific run.
What the utility needs to know is physical: where the building site sits on the parcel, the route a line would take to reach it, and whose land that route crosses. A site set far back from the road means a longer run than one near it, which is one reason the building site is worth fixing before the application goes in.
A service line that has to cross a state road can fall under the utility's own VDOT permit. The Land Use Permit Regulations let districtwide permits grant utility providers authority to install and maintain service connections to existing main line facilities, provided the crossing can be made from the side of the roadway without impeding travel for more than 15 minutes and without disturbing any pavement, shoulders or ditch lines.
What the recorded easements already say about a power line
A power line on or across land is a use of that land, and what the record says about that use matters before the poles go in.
What a recorded utility easement lets a utility do on the ground is covered in what a utility easement is. Whether an access easement or right-of-way already on record can also carry a power line turns on the instrument's terms, which a Virginia real estate attorney reads.
Under Va. Code 55.1-306, where an easement expressly granted by an instrument recorded on or after July 1, 2006 imposes a covenant to provide a future easement for utility services, to relocate, construct or maintain a utility's facilities, or to pay for that work, the covenant runs with the burdened land for the benefit of the utility. The statute's utility services include energy, broadband and other communications, water and sewerage, so a deed in the chain may already carry a promise the utility can rely on.
Wythe County inspects the wiring before AEP is told to turn it on
The last step belongs to the county building office. Wythe County states the order in one sentence:
Electrical Service and equipment shall be inspected and approved by the Building Inspection Department before AEP is notified to energize service.
Wythe County, Building Permit Requirements
That sentence is Wythe's. In the other counties, the county building official confirms the electrical permit and inspection sequence before a service is scheduled.
Power is one approval among several for a new home. Carroll County's new-dwelling cover sheet sends applicants whose project needs a 911 address to the Twin County E-911 Commission and wants evidence of each agency's approval before any building permit issues; when and whether vacant ground can be addressed is covered in getting a 911 address for vacant land. Utilities are the second pass, right after access, in reading land for access, utilities, grade, soil and zoning.
Sorting out power for a raw parcel?
Give Lowell the county and the parcel number, and he can lay out where access and utilities stand on that ground before a buyer asks. No cost, no obligation.
Got it. Thank you.
We'll be in touch shortly with an honest read.
Questions this raises
Can a parcel take service from a different utility whose line is closer?
Distance is not the test the statute uses. Under Va. Code 56-265.4, no certificate is granted to a utility proposing to operate in another certificate holder's territory unless the State Corporation Commission is satisfied that the holder's service there is inadequate. The SCC's Division of Public Utility Regulation, or the utility itself, confirms whose territory a parcel is in and what that means for a request to be served.
Is the SCC electric territory map enough to tell which utility serves a parcel?
No. The State Corporation Commission's electric service territory map, sourced to 2020, calls itself an approximation and directs readers to the Division of Public Utility Regulation for official electric territory maps. It shows the general pattern across the state, but the division or the utility itself confirms which certificate holder serves one particular tract.
Does the power company need a VDOT permit to run service across a state road?
It may be covered by a districtwide permit. VDOT's Land Use Permit Regulations let districtwide permits grant utility providers authority to install and maintain service connections to existing main line facilities, provided the crossing is made from the side of the roadway without impeding travel more than 15 minutes and without disturbing the pavement, shoulders or ditch lines. Work outside those conditions is for the utility and the VDOT residency to sort out.
Where this page's facts come from
Every rule, office and figure above traces to one of these. Rules change; check the office before you act on one.
- Va. Code 56-265.3, certificate of public convenience and necessity required Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 56-265.4, no certificate in another holder's territory unless its service is inadequate Virginia General Assembly
- Electric service territory map (2020, an approximation) State Corporation Commission
- Regulated electric companies and cooperatives State Corporation Commission
- 2024 Comprehensive Plan (electricity provided by the AEP system) Carroll County, Virginia
- Comprehensive Plan 2024 (Grayson County Industrial Park utilities) Grayson County, Virginia
- Comprehensive Plan (power supply to the Floyd PSA) Floyd County, Virginia
- Comprehensive Plan (transmission lines operated by American Electric Power) Wythe County, Virginia
- Building Permit Requirements (electrical inspection before AEP energizes service) Wythe County, Virginia
- 24VAC30-151-30, districtwide permits for utility service connections Virginia Department of Transportation
- Va. Code 55.1-306, utility covenants in recorded easements Virginia General Assembly
- Building Official cover sheet for a new dwelling (agency approvals before a building permit) Carroll County, Virginia