Electric substation plans under fire in Pineville
Residents blast plans for electrical facility over worries about health and property values
The following article appeared in the Jan. 5, 2024, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
A hot meeting in Pineville as upset residents hear details on plans for a possible electric substation; ‘We are begging you to listen to us’
An electric substation is being considered on a 1-acre site at Miller Road and Greenway Drive in Pineville. The town says the substation will be similar to the one located at the entrance of Jack Hughes Park (pictured right). (Photos courtesy of Town of Pineville)
by Lindsey Banks
Hundreds attended a tense Pineville community meeting in person and over Zoom Thursday evening to hear about plans for a controversial electrical substation that’s proposed to be built near a residential neighborhood, with many speakers urging town leaders to move the substation to a site across the street.
The proposed location is a 1-acre site in Pineville off N.C. 51 near the Miller Flea Market and the McCullough neighborhood, which straddles the N.C.-S.C. state line. If the Pineville Town Council purchases the property, the town will construct the substation with Electricities, a Huntersville-based electric utility company.
During Thursday night’s meeting, frustrated residents brought up a host of worries about the plan, including concerns that the current proposed location will lower property values in the area, pose a health risk due to electromagnetic field exposure and disrupt the aesthetics of the neighborhood and town.
“We are begging you to listen to us,” one resident told Pineville Town Manager Ryan Spitzer.