In unanimous vote, SC regulators approve controversial gas plant in ACE Basin

COLUMBIA — The S.C. Public Service Commission has given unanimous approval to a controversial gas plant in the northern reaches of the ACE Basin, a project conservation groups say could harm the delicate ecological balance of an area that is considered a conservation jewel of coastal South Carolina.

The plant is a collaboration between Dominion Energy and Santee Cooper, and will be located in the unincorporated Colleton County community of Canadys.

The project still needs to receive certain regulatory permits for its potential environmental impacts, and approval of a proposed 71-mile gas pipeline which would run from the Savannah River through the northern stretches of the ACE Basin before connecting to the plant.

Following the PSC's May 14 approval, Dominion and Santee Cooper can begin work on the site.

" That is the ticket that they need to be able to begin clearing, and construction of the plant," said Kate Mixson, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center.

The Law Center, representing Coastal Conservation League and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, had intervened in the PSC case.

The commission's vote marks the end of years of maneuvering and lobbying by utility companies, state legislators and local officials.

Opponents continue to question the plant's risk.

" It would be a climate disaster, doubling down on fossil fuels for decades to come," Belvin Olasov, director of the Charleston Climate Coalition, said of the plant. " It would be environmentally dangerous, siting it in the middle of the ACE Basin on the Edisto River, and would require a massive new pipeline to come through."

Santee Cooper and Dominion say the plant is necessary to meet the growing energy needs of a region that's seen its population explode in recent years, and that it would create jobs in rural Colleton County.

"Witnesses testifying on behalf of (Santee Cooper and Dominion) asserted that the proposed major utility facility would strengthen the chances for economic development in rural areas surrounding the proposed facility," said Commissioner Justin Williams, who represents Canadys and surrounding areas on the Public Service Commission.

"Additional testimony in the record indicated that, at present in Colleton County, most of the major corporations and companies previously present in the county have died out," Williams added.

For many opposed to the project, the potential for environmental harm outweighed any possible economic benefits.

The ACE Basin stretches from Beaufort to the southern portions of Charleston County, and is roughly defined by the Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto rivers. The 1.6 million-acre area has been the focus of nearly four decades of concerted conservation efforts by federal, state and private groups. The ACE Basin now is "the largest undeveloped wetland ecosystem remaining on the Atlantic Coast," according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

" That is a very precious area we have in our state, and I don't think there's anything in the country that's anything like it or near to the ACE Basin," said Commission Chairman Delton Powers. "The restrictions that we've put on this, and the oversight which we hope is given to it, will prevent any damage to this area that cannot be duplicated."

Impact on utility bills

Upon completion, the 2,200 megawatt Canadys plant will generate enough energy to power more than a million homes, according to Santee Cooper.

"If built, this will be one of the largest gas plants in the country," Olasov said.

The utility says the project will take advantage of "existing infrastructure" to help "produce savings for our customers" on the plant, which last year saw its price double from an estimated $2.5 billion to $5 billion.

"While Canadys Station will help meet the state's growing energy demand, its benefits will extend beyond powering homes and businesses," Jimmy Staton, president and CEO of Santee Cooper, wrote in a statement. "Canadys Station is good for the community, respectful of the environment and an excellent value for customers."

While types of gas plants vary, they all generally function the same way, according to the Tennessee Valley Authority. The end goal is to use gas to spin a turbine (either directly or by evaporating water and creating pressurized steam), which then generates power.

Utilities often cover construction costs on infrastructure projects by passing them along to ratepayers, driving up utility bills.

"One positive outcome in the vote today was that they will require quarterly reporting on cumulative costs that are accruing as the project progresses, rather than just estimated costs," said Taylor Allred, State Energy and Climate Program director at the Coastal Conservation League. "(That) will hopefully provide a little more accountability and at least a little more transparency."

That transparency also could allow the Public Service Commission to impose cost caps on the plant's construction, Allred said.

The Canadys plant will replace a now-defunct Dominion coal plant, which is currently a polluted "brownfield" site.

"For 50 years, the former Canadys generating station provided reliable energy across the South Carolina Lowcountry while providing economic benefits in partnership with Colleton County," Keller Kissam, president of Dominion Energy South Carolina, wrote in a statement. "With its ruling today, the Public Service Commission authorizes Santee Cooper and Dominion Energy to sensibly repurpose this existing site with state-of-the-art technology to power future generations of the Palmetto State."

The plant would be built near existing and planned Santee Cooper transmission lines. One of those nearby lines, through an existing Santee Cooper right-of-way in the ancient and protected Beidler Forest Sanctuary, attracted controversy and public scrutiny last year.

Audubon SC, which manages the Beidler Sanctuary, and Santee Cooper reached a settlement on that project last September, skirting potential litigation and allowing construction to proceed.

Data drain?

On top of population growth, data centers likely will drive up energy demands in the region.

South Carolina already is home to an estimated 39 of the energy-intensive operations, according to the South Carolina Water Plan. But that count might not be entirely accurate; state officials aren't certain about exactly how many data center are located in the Palmetto State, The Post and Courier has previously reported.

In Colleton County, where the Canadys gas plant would be built, county council last fall overhauled the zoning code to allow for data centers in rural areas. Under the new rules, that approval process would take a single vote from the county's Zoning Board of Appeals.

The policy spurred swift community pushback, countless angry Facebook comment sections, shouting matches at community meetings and a lawsuit (which is ongoing).

Colleton County council now is considering a temporary moratorium on new data centers.

"While the utilities say that the Canadys plant is needed for residential load growth, the truth is data centers, not residential customers, are driving 70 percent or more of the load growth on Santee Cooper's system, and a similarly large number for Dominion," said Mixson, of the Southern Environmental Law Center.

In addition to representing environmental groups in opposition to the gas plant and pipeline, the Law Center is litigating the data center zoning lawsuit. She said that, even though Canadys was initially pitched as a replacement for Dominion and Santee Cooper's aging coal plants, "the utilities are now saying that they may not retire their coal after all."

"They have been kind of continually pushing back the retirement dates for those plants and hedging on whether or not they would actually retire those plants, even when the Canadys plant comes online," she said. "And the reason for that is because of data center-driven load growth."