05/29/2026
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The South Carolina Public Service Commission just voted unanimously to approve Santee Cooper and Dominion’s methane gas power plant on the banks of the Edisto River in Canadys. At 2,200 megawatts of power, this plant would be one of the largest in the country.
For years, residents and nonprofits including SELC have raised concerns about the project’s potential negative impact on nearby communities, the ACE Basin, and other natural resources. The residents of Canadys have already faced decades of pollution from the coal plant that once stood on the site.
The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of Coastal Conservation League and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, intervened at the Public Service Commission to raise concerns about the environmental impacts and rising costs of the massive plant and the 71-mile greenfield pipeline needed to service it. Pipeline owner Kinder Morgan could use “eminent domain” to force landowners to sell their land to make way for the project.
"This massive, polluting plant has already doubled in cost from $2.5 to $5 billion in the last year, and the utilities admitted at the hearing that its final all-in costs will be even higher,” said Kate Mixson, SELC Senior Attorney. “We’re certainly worried that the plant and pipeline will negatively impact communities and raise customers’ bills. We will closely monitor the project’s next steps to ensure its impacts are as mitigated as possible.”
Photo by Gavin McIntyre
https://selc.link/4oaufDj
