In March, Duke Energy officials stated that they were exploring sites in Davie and Davidson counties for two new combined cycle (CC) natural gas plants as part of a larger plan to construct five throughout the Carolinas. Earlier this week, Duke Energy decided to move forward with constructing both new units in Davie on the property known as the Perkins Game Land.
Bill Norton, spokesperson for the company, said that the Davie site was primarily chosen because of the existing infrastructure. The site is close to already-existing transmission lines.
That doesn’t mean that the Davidson County site will be left empty, as the company plans to construct a liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage facility there, which Norton said will help the company reduce costs and increase reliability for the units.
“We believe the most efficient and cost-effective solution is to pair the CCs together on our Davie County property — which is closer to existing transmission lines — and build the LNG storage on our Davidson County property, near an interstate gas supply pipeline that crosses the site. When we can connect to nearby infrastructure that already exists, plus use company-owned land acquired at low cost long ago, that helps reduce costs for customers,” said Norton.
He compared the two CC units to two already in construction in Person County.
“For perspective, the two Person County CCs under construction take up 50 to 100 acres combined — they have the same general specifications as what we’re considering for Davie County. Consisting of 2-3 storage tanks, the proposed LNG facility should occupy less than 20 percent of the company-owned parcel in Davidson County,” said Norton.
The units will provide 2,730 megawatts, enough energy to power more than 2 million homes. It would also create 80 full-time jobs and more 1,000 short-term jobs during construction, said Norton. He shied away from putting a specific number on the investment, but said that both Davie and Davidson counties would receive multi-billion dollar investments, said Norton.
Andrew Brock, a former Senator from Davie County and member of the Senate Energy Committee, said that the economic impact of the development would be similar to hosting the Super Bowl every year, in that the project will provide significant tax revenue, jobs and even indirect economic benefits to restaurants and other local businesses through the added income the jobs will bring.
“N.C. has long been a leader in energy production, since the Schenck Mill in Lincoln County. … Economic development follows energy production, and now that the state’s growing like crazy — back when I was in the legislature, from day one I was like, ‘We need more energy production’ — now it’s not an opportunity, it’s a need,” he said. “You see brownouts in other areas of the country where the energy production isn’t as reliable, but this is combined cycle which is great, it’s reliable.
“Not only will all the property owners and citizens of Davie County benefit, schools will benefit, fire departments and the sheriff’s office (will be) big winners. Knowing the tax base and the jobs this will bring in, it’s phenomenal.”
He added that he believed the influx of tax revenue would allow the county to lessen the growing tax burdens on the citizens of Davie County, with the loss of mills and other traditional industries having put Davie County in a tough place in recent decades.
Norton said that the company would take precautions to ensure the units would not impact neighbors or the area. He also said that it was too soon in the process to decide where exactly on the approximately 1,700 acre property the units would be built, but that the company would ensure there was “ample buffer” between the sites and neighbors.
“If we move forward, just as we did in Person County, we would use the best available technology to limit air emissions. After a thorough evaluation, the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality confirmed that the technology utilized by our two Person County CCs will keep units neighbors and the surrounding environment protected — even while both the new natural gas facility and the adjacent 60-year-old coal units are operating simultaneously,” Norton said. “Comparatively, you’d see far lower emissions here.
“Water supply would come from the adjoining Yadkin River. Highly efficient CCs need far less water than coal plants – only about 15 percent on average — to generate steam, and there is no possibility of coal ash constituents entering the river or groundwater. In fact, there are no pollutants discharged into the Yadkin at all — only slightly warmer water, under very strict parameters designed by state regulators to keep the Yadkin heathy.”
Ronnie Shoaf, who has lived beside the Duke property for approximately 20 years, said he was not worried about the development.
“Duke has been a wonderful neighbor,” he said. “I know they will build to where there’s a tree barrier. Really, I’m the closest property to it and I’m in total favor. … I’d rather a power plant than some big residential development. It doesn’t concern my wife and I at all. They really keep things neat and I think it’ll be fine.”
He added that the Perkins Game Land has been considered for development since long before he built his house next door.
“It’s been in talks to build, this is nothing new. (Duke Energy is) good people and good neighbors. We need the power, but we don’t want it in our backyard, want it in someone else’s backyard. I’m not like that,” Shoaf said.
The project has been the subject of pushback among local residents, especially in Davidson County, where citizen groups and environmental organizations have taken issue with the potential for environmental and health impacts through water and air pollution along the Yadkin River.
“Duke Energy is considering the Perkins Game Land off Riverview Road as a potential site for a power plant that would burn methane to produce electricity. This project would cause the loss of an important outdoor recreational resource and forested land and contribute to water degradation in the Yadkin River. Davie County community members are contacting Yadkin Riverkeeper with valid concerns about the impacts this project would have on the historic character of Davie County and the Yadkin River. If a power plant is placed at this location in Davie County, it will most likely require a three-mile gas pipeline to be constructed that would cross the entire Yadkin River to connect the power plant with the transcontinental pipeline in Davidson County. This type of disruption to the Yadkin River would have major impacts to downstream water quality,” said Yadkin Riverkeeper Nicole Eastman at the June 1 Davie County Board of Commissioners meeting.
Norton stressed that nothing has been finalized, as the proposal still has hurdles to jump at the state level. The property is also currently zoned Rural Agricultural.
“When we filed our long-range resource plan last October, modeling confirmed the need for five new CCs. Two CCs in Person County are now under construction, and state regulators approved a third CC in Anderson County, South Carolina. While the resource plan is still being evaluated by the North Carolina Utilities Commission, in recent evidentiary hearings, the public staff confirmed the need for the fourth and fifth CCs as well,” Norton said.
The company will soon be mailing invitations to open houses to over 4,000 neighbors within a four-mile radius of the sites. The Davie County open house has been scheduled for Aug. 25 and the Davidson County open house for Aug. 27.
The project also still has a lengthy timeline ahead of it. Norton’s tentative schedule put the first CC plant and LNG storage in service in early 2032 and the second CC plant in service in early 2033. Construction likely would not begin until 2028, after multiple state review processes.
