News

'The process worked,' Duke says of reversal

Duke Energy Carolinas region president Lloyd Yates talks about revised plans that drops the high-voltage plan.

By Bill Moss, Published: November 4, 2015

Duke Energy announced on Wednesday that it has dropped plans to run a high-voltage transmission line through Henderson County, citing the community's overwhelming opposition, and calling for regionwide cooperation on reducing energy.

Utility officials made the announcement during a news conference on Wednesday at Duke Energy's Lake Julian coal plant.

"The process worked," Lloyd Yates, president of Duke Energy's Carolinas Division. "We listened and responded to more than 9,000 comments and we really appreciate the strong interest from the communities in this important project."

"While the previous plan was more robust and scaled for a longer term, this new plan balances the concerns raised by the community and the very real need for more electricity to serve this growing region," he said. He ticked off major power users that have strained Duke's capacity: 14 new hotels, two national craft breweries, $1 billion in new industrial investment in the past five years. He thanked Henderson County and Hendersonville officials for what he described as constructive cooperation with the utility in a more conciliatory way than some towns.

"The thing I would like to say is the system worked," said state Sen. Tom Apodaca, who appeared at the news conference at Duke's invitation.

It was Apodaca who persuaded Duke Energy officials to consider converting the Lake Julian plant to natural gas only to watch the community blow up in a reaction that he described as the most negative and intense in his 14 years of political service. "Chuck McGrady and I fielded I don't know how many thousands of calls. Staff has worked with in order to hear what the people thought, and the good news hear today is the people were heard, and I want to thank Duke for coming forward to put together a sensible alternative to this. Many of us didn't think about it in the beginning when we were going with the first one, although many folks think we did know all this and the conspiracy theories abounded as they always do."

Apodaca credited Jeff Miller, his longtime friend, political confidant and City Council member "who bugged me more on this than about anybody. I'm just proud of Hendersonville, the mayor, the county, Steve (Wyatt) with how they stepped up and came forth with sensible solutions. I can't say that for all the municipalities in the county."

Duke's plan to run a 230-kilovolt transmission line held up by 140-foot towers had set off widespread and intense opposition from the South Carolina Upstate to Henderson and Polk counties. Opponents argued that the 10-story towers would harm tourism, agriculture and residential home sales and urged Duke to consider other options.

Duke officials said the utility would reconfigure the plant to make the Upstate substation and 230-kilovolt unnecessary. In the new plan, Duke will replace the Asheville coal-fired plant two smaller natural gas fueled plants instead of one 650-megawatt unit. Because of WNC's fast growth, the revised plan would require more energy efficiency, demand-side management and renewable energy sources, they said.

“Seeing the outcome, of course I’m more than happy,” said Dave Butler, owner of Sky Top orchard in Flat Rock, a pick-your-own apple farm that would have been below the new power lines in one of the corridor options. “I think they probably caused a bit more public outcry than they needed to with all the routes. However, I was informed they try to look at all possible routes so I guess they were in a dilemma. When you do due diligence you’re to look at all options and I think they did that. I applaud their decision For Henderson County tourism I think it’s a good decision for the future.”

"I certainly appreciate the effort they put into this, listening to all the concerns," said Hendersonville Mayor Barbara Volk. "I think the point they made that all these people who were concerned need to now step up and do their part to see that any additional changes can be out off as long as possible."

"It's good news," said Kaye Caldwell, the owner of Clear Creek Cabins and one of the leaders of Edneyville-based opposition. "To a certain extent it (the process) worked but on the other hand they could have reevaluated what they were doing in the first place. It caused a lot of grief. It's very hard for people when they're told they're going to have a transmission line going through their property."

"Duke is not the enemy," Hendersonville City Council member Miller said, praising the utility for its willingness to listen and adjust its plans.

Gordon Smith, another resident active in the power line opposition, said: "That is so exciting." Did the process work? "Yeah, it was awful painful but I guess it worked. My whole thing is they should have been more transparent (about) the reasons for it up front. We were given a lot of confusing reasons for why we need the power line."

Since it announced the Western Carolinas Modernization Plan, "we have received quite a bit of feedback from the community," said Robert A. Sipes, general manager for Duke's Western Carolinas area. "In respoinse to that feedback we have revised the plan."

A third gas-fired plant capable of producing 190 megawatts of electricity, tentatively scheduled in 2023, depends on the success of energy-reduction efforts. Those efforts "could delay or even completely mitigate the need for that unit," Sipes added.

Specifically, Duke now plans to:

• Replace the Asheville coal plant with two smaller gas-fired units of 280-megawatts each.
• Rebuild existing transmission lines and upgrade substations to increase the ability to import backup power when needed.
• Increase customer participation in energy efficiency and load demand.
• Design the units so they can use oil as a backup fuel in an emergency.
• Install a 10-megawatt solar energy plant, as it had announced in March as part of the original Western Carolinas Modernization Plan.

"As part of the new plan," Sipes said, "we're planning to step our effort to work with customers and partner with local government and other interested groups to expand their participation in programs to reduce peak power demand and grow renewable energy related technologies."

An Asheville-based environmental advocacy group praised the power company's decision but also issued a word of caution.

“Eliminating transmission lines and a proposed substation is a significant win for the residents of Western North Carolina and upstate South Carolina," Julie Mayfield, co-director of MountainTrue, said in a news release. "We came together, voiced our concerns, and Duke Energy heard our call. We applaud Duke for listening to our communities, going back to the drawing board and setting a new course that is more consistent with our values and respectful of our region’s natural heritage."

 
Today we can celebrate but tomorrow we go back to work. Though we are pleased the proposed plant is smaller than originally proposed, natural gas is still a major contributor to climate change, and our region is already feeling the impacts

“We’ve dodged a bullet," Mark Stierwalt, southern regional director for MountainTrue, said in a news release. "This is a win, but there’s still much work to be done,” Mark Stierwalt, southern regional director for MountainTrue, said in a news release.

In an interview, Stierwalt pointed out that MountainTrue had “brought together most of the grassroots groups from around the community and tried to bring them under umbrella to join forces" as the Carolina Land Coalition. A native of the Tuxedo area ad graduate of Hendersonville High School, Stierwalt said the outcome was a win for the community.

“It’s not often that your local grassroots environmental organization takes on an industry giant and they actually listen,” he said. “Growing up here, I don’t ever remember having a truly unanimous collection of the community in outright opposition to something.”

DUKE ENERGY MODERNIZATION PLAN TIMELINE

May 19: Duke Energy announces plans to replace the 376-megawatt Asheville coal power plant and with a new $750 million 650-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant. Duke says it will also spend about $320 million to build a transmission substation near Campobello, S.C., and connect it to the Asheville power plant with a new 45-mile 230-kilovolt transmission line. Although the projects are announced at the same time, Duke says later that the transmission line was in the works long before this year’s
decision to convert the coal plant at Lake Julian.

Early July: Duke notifies landowners on or near 41 proposed segments for the transmission line. While the right of way is 150 feet, Duke notified landowners within 1,000 feet.

July 14: Duke holds first public input session at WNC Ag Center.

July 21: Duke holds public input session at Landrum Middle School.

July 23: Duke holds public input session at Blue Ridge Community College.

July: Homeowners associations form coalition to oppose transmission line.

Aug. 3: Residents appear before the Henderson County Board of Commissioners to speak against the power line.

Aug. 7: Farmers and farm organizations meet to ask questions and form plans to respond to transmission line.

Aug. 10: N.C. Utilities Commission opens a docket on the transmission line proposal and begins accepting comments.

Aug. 10: The Polk County Board of Commissioners and Saluda Town Commission adopt resolutions opposing the power line.

Aug. 13: Numerous HOAs and residents gather at Trinity Presbyterian Church to hear about plans to oppose a western route of the line crossing Big Willow, Horse Shoe Etowah and Mills River.

Aug. 14: Duke announces it is moving up the decision to choose a route from early 2016 to October of this year.

Aug. 24: Fletcher Town Council adopts resolution opposing the power line.

Aug. 25: Hendersonville City Manager John Connet sends letter to Duke saying the city favors a central route along an existing 100-kilovolt corridor. While that would “bring the project through the City of Hendersonville … our goal is to protect our scenic vistas and ridgelines,” Connet said. The city also asks Duke to partner on building a greenway along the power line the corridor.

Aug. 25: North Carolina Utilities Commission public staff announces it will hold a meeting in Hendersonville on Sept. 3 to hear comments and answer questions.

Aug. 27: Residents in an overflow crowd at Landrum (S.C.) High School urge the South Carolina Public Service Commission to reject the project.

Aug. 28: Edneyville group releases report advocating running the power line underground. Agribusiness Henderson County, a farm advocacy group, tells Duke that the proposed routes disproportionately affect Henderson County farmers and force them “to bear the greatest burden” in economic sacrifice. U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows tells a Town Hall meeting at BRCC that Duke officials are open to using existing right of way for the transmission line.

Aug. 31: The Flat Rock Village Council adopts a resolution urging Duke “reconsider the need for the proposed electrical infrastructure,” and if found to be needed consider running it underground and, barring that, to consider the impact overhead lines would have on the economy, historic property, scenic beauty and wildlife.

Sept. 3: The Public Staff of the North Carolina Utilities Commission hosts an information meeting during which Duke officials answer questions.

Sept. 8: The Henderson County Board of Commissioners adopts a resolution, drafted jointly with the Hendersonville City Council, asking the Public Staff to hire an independent analyst to evaluate the need for the project and asking Duke to use existing easements and monopoles.

Sept. 11: Hendersonville City Council adopts identical resolution, which bolsters the city’s earlier request for cooperation on greenways.

Sept. 12: Residents gather at Valley Ag in Mills River to demonstrate against the project.

Oct. 8: Duke announces it is delaying a decision on the selection of a transmission line route and says it is looking at other option.

Nov. 4: Duke announces it is dropping the Campobello, S.C., substation and transmission line project and recongifuring the natural gas plant replacement of the coal plant.

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