Energy company plans to build power lines through nature preserve near Bluffton

A billion-dollar energy company plans to build a new high-voltage transmission line between Burnt Church Road and Bluffton Parkway by 2020. Three of the proposed routes run through protected wetlands.

Last week, Dominion Energy announced seven proposed routes for the 115,000-volt energy line that will connect the company’s Burnt Church Road substation to a Santee Cooper-operated facility on Bluffton Parkway. Residents in the Lake Linden community near Bluffton are fighting back.

127 residents in the 280-home neighborhood signed a petition against the proposed routes at a community meeting Wednesday night organized by Lake Linden Homeowner Association President Ralph Paine. They’re worried about the line’s impact on the wildlife, as well as their safety and their property values. Among those attending the meeting were State Sen. Tom Davis; Jose Casey, U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham’s field representative; Beaufort County Councilman Mark Lawson; and Bluffton Town Manager Marc Orlando.

“I’ve made it very clear that we will never give them permission to destroy our preserve,” Paine told residents and legislators at the meeting. He said the wetlands are necessary to prevent flooding.

Paine said three proposed routes would affect more than 2,800 residents in Lake Linden and Garden Homes.

Paul Fischer, a spokesman for Dominion Energy, said in an email that the new energy line “will serve to reduce the duration of power outages in the area caused by severe weather or other events.” He said construction of the line is expected to start in the second half of 2020 and finish by the end of the year.

Fischer said the perspectives from landowners and stakeholders and other environmental and historical factors will help the company decide how to move forward.

Sen. Davis told the residents that although private companies that provide public services like Dominion do have some condemnation rights over private property, environmental protections at the federal and state levels will constrain the company’s ability to condemn a wetland area. He said he plans to meet with members of the state delegation to discuss what the community’s next step should be.

The energy giant’s reach is relatively new to South Carolina. Earlier this year, Dominion Energy, the Virginia-based utility company, acquired SCANA, the parent company of South Carolina Electric & Gas Company, for $14.6 billion. SCE&G has since changed its name to Dominion Energy South Carolina.

“They’re in their honeymoon phase here in South Carolina,” Davis said, “and the last thing they want is to pick a fight with an organized community.”

Councilman Lawson said he spoke with a representative from Dominion and was assured that no decisions have been made and that the proposed routes are “just preliminary.”

This story was originally published August 2, 2019 at 11:00 AM.