The energy bill racing through the SC legislature will harm small rural communities like mine | Opinion
Until recently, many people had never heard of Canadys, a rural crossroads community in Colleton County located along the Edisto River. Now, Canadys is at the heart of the debate over South Carolina’s energy future as the S.C. General Assembly considers House Bill 5118, which would allow for a large natural gas plant to be built here. I live about two miles from the proposed site of this new gas plant, and I am extremely concerned about the negative impacts it would have on my community.
For 50 years, residents of Canadys had to live alongside a coal-fired power plant owned and operated by SCE&G (now Dominion) that polluted the air and groundwater of Canadys. The plant was closed in 2013, but the impacts still haunt the community today.
Now that same utility is back with hopes of working with Santee Cooper to build an even bigger natural gas plant at the same facility that polluted Canadys for half a century. This proposed megaproject would be over four times the size of the retired coal plant and would lock Canadys and surrounding areas into decades of pollution. Again.
Utilities and several lawmakers argue that natural gas is cleaner than coal. That is true. However, proponents of this gas plant fail to mention that the use of natural gas to generate power still creates harmful emissions that increase health issues and pollute our natural environment. It’s like saying that vaping is safer than smoking cigarettes. Sure, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe.
Locating an enormous gas-fired power plant in the same rural community that was forced to live alongside a coal-fired power plant for 50 years would send the message that Canadys should continue to be polluted for the benefit of other areas — that this is what rural people in South Carolina deserve. That is unacceptable.
As South Carolina continues to experience some of the most rapid growth in the nation, it is vital that we protect our longstanding communities and irreplaceable natural resources.
The Edisto River is at the top of the list of places worth protecting. One of longest free-flowing blackwater rivers in North America, the Edisto is home to game species like wood ducks and striped bass, as well as endangered species like the short-nosed and Atlantic sturgeon. South Carolina’s natural resources are what make it one of the most desirable places in the country for residents and businesses to relocate. We cannot destroy the very things that make our state successful.
Yet, this proposed megaproject would do just that by polluting the Canadys community and sucking millions of gallons of water from the Edisto River. It would also require a new pipeline to be constructed across hundreds of acres of private property to serve the facility. Shockingly, ratepayers like you and me from across the state would be required to fund this misguided and destructive project through our energy bills.
Despite all these known impacts and extensive concerns shared by people across the Palmetto State, the S.C. House passed House Bill 5118 last month. This bill is now awaiting a vote in the S.C. Senate.
We must ensure the real concerns of South Carolinians are not ignored. Reach out to your representative in the Senate and urge them not to approve this dangerous legislation. We must protect the smiling faces and beautiful places that keep our state thriving. We can’t sit idly by and allow our communities to be harmed and our natural resources degraded while our energy bills continue to climb. South Carolina deserves better.
Robby Maynor is communities and transportation program director for Coastal Conservation League and lives in Canadys . The views expressed here are his own.
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Send us your views We’d like to hear your views on House Bill 5118, the South Carolina 10-year Energy Transformation Act, which is under consideration in the S.C. Senate this week. We accept 200-word letters to the editor. Or, if you have expertise on or experience with this issue, we’ll accept an essay of 550- to 650-words. Please email them to Matthew T. Hall at mhall@thestate.com.
