Members of the Cumberland County Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of a substation to the county board of supervisors that will service 473 customers with Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC) and power the Cobbs Creek Reservoir pump station.

Commission Vice Chair Randy Bryant confirmed the vote Monday after the commission meeting.

Members of the Cumberland County Board of Supervisors held a public hearing July 10 in reference to the substation but voted to table the application until the commission made a recommendation.

“Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC) has applied to build a 115-(kilovolts) KV transmission tap line that would be around 2,100 feet long, and lie within a 100 foot easement provided by Henrico County,” the board packet for a past commission meeting cited. “They are also proposing to construct an electric substation on a 110’ by 150’ (foot) site owned by Henrico County. The substation would serve the Cobbs Creek Reservoir pump station as well as 475 customers of CVEC.”

Bryant said the commission and board of supervisors are potentially considering taking a tour of the reservoir in the fall.

A memorandum of understanding between Cumberland County and Henrico County was agreed to in 2010 for the Cobbs Creek Reservoir, and Henrico began the first phase of building its reservoir in 2015.

The reservoir, located on the northern end of Cumberland County, is estimated to cost $280 million and expand 1,117-acres, encompassing a little more than 15 miles of stream bed, according to a Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) permit. It will permanently impact 15.3 miles of stream, almost 31 acres of wetlands and 4.6 acres of open water.

The reservoir would collect water from the James River.

The substation, proposed to be located at 1617 Columbia Road on an approximately five-acre parcel, would keep the property’s current zoning at Agricultural-2, but have a conditional use permit.