No Transco pipeline in Davidson County!
Make your voice heard: No Transco pipeline in Davidson County!
Target: Davidson County Commissioners
Are you frustrated with rising electricity bills? Speak out today against a new pipeline proposed in Davidson County that could increase your bill even more.
Williams Companies is planning a new large methane gas project in Virginia and North Carolina called the Southeast Supply Enhancement Project. This would include a high-pressure gas pipeline and compressor station expansion in Davidson County. This project is part of a larger Duke Energy plan to build new gas power plants across the state. Everyday customers’ electricity rates would increase to pay for construction of the expensive plants, while Duke would make a guaranteed profit.
Pipelines can explode or catch fire without warning. If built, this project would threaten the safety of nearby residents, schools and churches. The gas-fired compressor station would release harmful chemicals into the air, impacting the surrounding community that has already dealt with decades of air pollution from the existing facility.
We have the power to say no to these dangerous, expensive projects! Tell decision-makers to help protect Davidson County. Please only sign if you live in or have a personal connection to Davidson County.
Sponsored by
To:
Davidson County Commissioners
From:
[Your Name]
I am writing as a resident of Davidson County to oppose the Southeast Supply Enhancement Project, proposed by Williams Transco (Transco). This project would include construction of ten miles of a large, high-pressure methane gas pipeline in Davidson County and a big expansion of a gas-powered compressor station.
We are concerned about the project’s impact on our health, safety, and electric bills. Transco acknowledged in a public document that the SSEP would not benefit areas impacted by the project.
This pipeline is part of a larger proposed expansion of new methane gas pipelines and gas-fired power plants in the Southeast. Duke Energy is contracted to buy gas from the pipeline as part of its statewide plan to build new methane gas-fired power plants. Duke would mainly use the gas to supply electricity to industrial customers in other parts of the state, including data centers, and this pipeline would bring few permanent jobs to Davidson County.
Duke Energy estimated that this plan would increase its Duke Energy Carolinas customers’ electric bills by 73% by 2033. Also, Transco’s own documentation states that they will recoup the $1.5 billion in construction costs from ratepayers. We know cheaper, safer electricity generation can serve North Carolinians more reliably. We reject paying for energy projects that are more about making corporations money than serving the public.
Pipelines also cause property values of impacted landowners to decrease. Pipeline construction can alter and harm landowners’ properties, reduce crop yields, and cause heavy erosion and sedimentation in nearby waterways.
This large diameter, high-pressure pipeline poses a safety risk to nearby residents due to possible leaks and explosions. There are large residential areas and schools within the pipeline’s blast zone (the area that would be severely impacted in the case of an explosion). Given that Transco has one of the worst safety records of gas pipeline companies in the country, we do not trust them to operate safely in our community.
The pipeline is proposed along an existing right-of-way that, in different places, already contains between one and four other pipelines of different types and various ages, with many being decades old. Aging pipelines are a safety risk. The pipeline company has not addressed how the construction of yet another pipeline nearby could affect these existing aged pipes.
Transco also would like to expand a compressor station as part of this project to keep the gas flowing in the pipe. Compressor stations generate noise pollution and release chemical pollutants into the air that can harm lung, heart, and brain health. The nearby community is already heavily burdened by harmful air pollution from the existing compressor station.
We, the residents, do not want to shoulder the risks of this pipeline, with few, if any, benefits. We urge local elected officials to pass a resolution against Williams Transco’s proposed Southeast Supply Enhancement Project to protect the community from this project.