Four months ago this week, Fairfax County signed a declaration that it would help lead a national effort for counties to reduce global warming emissions 80 percent by 2050, an average annual reduction of 2 percent.

According to the American Institute of Architects, buildings account for one-half of all greenhouse-gas emissions.

Fairfax County is the largest suburban office market in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area and one of the 15 largest in the nation. It’s the largest office market in Virginia with more than 106 million square feet of space, ranging from single-story to high-rise buildings and everything in between, according the county’s economic development authority. Tysons Corners, considered the county’s “downtown”, contains nearly 25.7 million square feet of office space.

One 10-story office building uses about 5 megawatts of electricity on the hottest afternoons of a summer. Those are the “peak load” times that Dominion Power says will become a serious problem in 2011 if its proposed transmission line is not built.

With Fairfax County playing such a central role in the economic vitality of Virginia and the metropolitan region, it’s easy to see why Dominion Power has spent considerable resources building support for its proposal within the county, including the funding of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce’s coalition to support the transmission lines.

Energy and environmental policy could grow soon to be on par with transportation as one of the county’s top infrastructure issues.

Fairfax's citizens and homeowners associations traditionally have been among the most active and vocal in the nation. These groups make a significant contribution to how the county develops and executes public policy.

That’s why Virginia’s Commitment has urged Dominion Power to join us at any available forum of civic associations, during the period that the State Corporation Commission is considering the company’s application, to conduct an honest and open dialogue on the issue.

Fairfax County’s citizens deserve to hear both sides of the debate, because they will have a big say in how the county tackles its ambitious environmental goals --- goals that can be profoundly affected by the SCC’s decision.

We were hoping to debate Dominion Power at this past Thursday’s meeting of the Fairfax Federation. Dominion did not see this month’s gathering of the county’s key association leaders as important enough to send a representative. That’s a shame. And that’s why we say this is “Day Two” for Virginia’s Commitment’s “Where’s Dominion?” Watch.

Have you seen Dominion today?