LANDRUM, SC (FOX Carolina) –
Duke Energy will host two public meetings this week about the company’s plan to construct a high voltage electrical transmission line between Asheville and northern Spartanburg County.
Duke officials said property along a 45 mile path would be seized in order to construct a 230kv transmission line from a natural gas-fired power plant in Asheville to a substation in Campobello.
Duke announced in May that plans had been finalized to replace the 376-megawatt Asheville coal power plant with a $750 million, 650-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant with a solar generator and that it would be connected to a $320 million substation to be constructed along I-26 near Highway 11 in the Campobello area.
PREVIOUSLY: Duke Energy to replace WNC coal plant with natural-gas plant, add substation in Upstate
The project is slated for completion in 2019 and Duke says it will provide hundreds of jobs during development.
However, many residents in the path of the proposed transmission line are not happy.
In an e-mail sent to FOX Carolina, one Landrum resident stated the transmission line would “negatively (affect) pristine forests, beautiful mountain views, scenic Highway 11 and millions of dollars of property values.”
Some argue the transmission line could discourage tourism in the area.
“It could have a terrible economic impact on us,” Spartanburg County homeowner Madelon Wallace said. “Our major economic driver in this area is horses, tourism, wineries and agriculture…and we worked very hard over the years to build a strong economy in this area centered around those things.”
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Others have also threatened lawsuits.
Duke officials will address the Spartanburg County communities’ concerns at a meeting Tuesday in Landrum. The meeting will be held at the Landrum Middle School gymnasium from 4 to 7 p.m.
Another public meeting will be held Thursday at the Blue Ridge Community College’s Henderson County campus in Flat Rock. The meeting will take place in the Blue Ridge Center Conference Hall, located in the Technology and Education Development Center, from 4 to 7 p.m.
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