Santee Cooper and Dominion Energy are planning to build a 2,200 MW combined-cycle power plant in Canadys, SC. If built, it would be one of the largest gas-fired power plants in the country, and its harmful emissions would threaten the health of surrounding communities. Coastal Conservation League recently obtained a map showing the preliminary route of the pipeline being planned to bring methane gas to the Canadys site. A Colleton County Council member brought the map to a community event on August 7 at Duke’s BBQ in Walterboro, which was co-hosted by the League and several partner organizations.
The Elba Bridge gas pipeline’s route crosses the Savannah River and would impact parts of the ACE Basin in Hampton and Colleton Counties. The pipeline is also expected to threaten private property rights through eminent domain. The ACE Basin is one of the largest areas of undeveloped wetland and estuarine habitats on the Atlantic coast. It is also a popular destination for hunting and fishing, with abundant game drawn to historic rice impoundments, marshlands, and pine and hardwood forests.
“We are disappointed that it has taken so long to get information to the public on this pipeline, and that it was not even released deliberately,” said Taylor Allred, Energy & Climate Program Director at the Coastal Conservation League. “That being said, we are glad to be able to start informing impacted community members about the threats it poses and how they can stand up for their rights. We are also glad to see so many community members already speaking up.”
The high-pressure pipeline is being planned by Kinder Morgan, a large pipeline conglomerate that is also planning extensive gas pipeline projects traversing Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and other states. The other pipeline projects across the Southeast – Mississippi Crossing and South System Expansion 4 – would bring additional gas capacity to Kinder Morgan’s Elba Express pipeline, which sends gas to be liquefied and exported abroad at a terminal co-owned by Kinder Morgan on Elba Island, near Savannah. The Elba Bridge pipeline serving the Canadys plant would connect to the Elba Express pipeline in Screven County, Georgia, and it would require new polluting compressor stations to pressurize the gas.
Elba Bridge Pipeline MapEarlier this year, the General Assembly approved legislation that authorized the state-owned power authority Santee Cooper to enter into a joint venture with Dominion Energy to build the Canadys gas plant, but the utilities have not yet submitted applications to regulators. The utilities have argued that the plant is needed to address the energy demand growth they have forecasted, about two thirds of which is associated with data centers. Building the plant could cost well over $3 billion, and much of the costs would be passed to residential and small-business customers of the electric utilities. About 70 percent of the power generated by Santee Cooper is sold to the state’s electric cooperatives.
The Elba Bridge pipeline must be approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission before construction begins, and the Canadys gas plant must be approved by the S.C. Public Service Commission and other regulatory agencies prior to construction. The companies have not yet filed their applications, but members of the public will have opportunities to speak out once the review proceedings begin. Sign up for updates on these and other projects, including details on upcoming opportunities to make your voice heard.