Update: Swain County reps issue moratorium on substation near Kituwah
By Will Chavez
Staff Writer
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – North Carolina’s Swain County board of commissioners issued on March 9 a 90-day moratorium on the building of a substation by Duke Energy near the historic Cherokee site of Kituwah.
Citizens and the governments of all three federally recognized Cherokee tribes – the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the United Keetoowah Band and the Cherokee Nation – have expressed concern that the substation would sit too close to Kituwah, which is considered the sacred mother town for Cherokee people.
The moratorium prevents the issuance of soil erosion control and building permits related to the construction of utility substations. The SCBC said it plans to consider a permanent ordinance to regulate the development of land within Swain County as it applies to substation and cell tower construction.
Commissioner David Monteith said county commissioners about two months ago noticed work being done on a mountain adjacent to Kituwah. Curious, he and other citizens investigated and realized Duke Energy was building a substation.
He said the SCBC knew Duke was replacing power lines east of the county, but had no knowledge of the substation. Subsequently, a Duke representative attended a SCBC meeting to obtain a permit for the retaining wall, but Monteith said commissioners “couldn’t get a definite answer” about what the company was doing near Kituwah.
The Duke representative told commissioners of a private meeting on Feb. 17 between the EBCI and Duke’s president. Monteith said he had to call EBCI Principal Chief Michell Hicks to get an invitation for the commissioners.
At the meeting, Duke representatives ignored the commissioners, who were forced to ask questions by writing notes, Monteith said.
“We were treated like we didn’t exist, not by the tribe but by Duke Power,” he said.
Monteith said the commissioners asked Duke officials why they had not talked to the SCBC. He said Duke reps told them since Swain County did not have an ordinance preventing them from building the substation they did not have to meet with the county.
Before clearing 15 acres, Duke obtained a soil erosion permit but not a retaining wall permit. Duke is still in the grading phase at the substation site because nothing can be built until a retaining wall is in place, said Duke Energy spokesman Jason Walls.
Walls said Duke would work with Swain County to obtain a retaining wall permit for the 300-by-300-square foot substation that will have 40-foot high towers.
“As we have said, our interest in this whole process is to make sure we can supply our customers in that region, including the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians reservation and others outside of the reservation, with reliable electricity. So we’re certainly going to be working with the county over these 90 days to better understand how the proposed ordinance could affect our ability to provide reliable electricity to customers.” Walls said.
Monteith said he realizes power is needed in the county, but doesn’t understand why Duke was not forthright with the commissioners.
The moratorium allows the county to study the substation more thoroughly, and hopefully, allow the tribe, county and Duke to have more discussions, he said.
“To me we were being talked down to and so was the tribe because they said they didn’t have to come talk to the tribe either,” Monteith said. “You think out of respect a company like Duke…would be willing to contact the board of commissioners in that county. They should have some common courtesy to talk with us.”
In the moratorium, the five commissioners cite the county’s tourism industry, which is tied to “the scenic and unspoiled areas of Swain County.”
The substation’s construction would “create visual appearances that threaten to destroy the scenic and unspoiled aesthetic features of the county and the quality of life for residents and visitors,” the moratorium states.
Walls said Duke Energy is looking at other options for the substation. One is to continue near the Kituwah site, but with additional camouflage that would reduce the station’s visual impact. Another is to work with the EBCI to possibly place the substation at an alternate site, which would include land owned by the EBCI and Duke Energy.
Duke is also looking at other land it owns “in the vicinity” of the current site that may work, with some “re-engineering,” to continue serving the energy load of the area, Walls said.
“If at the end of the day that site (near Kituwah) proves to be the only option, we have to continue to serve those customers with reliable electricity. We will do everything that we can to further camouflage that site,” he said.
Walls said Duke has determined there will be a growing demand for energy both from the tribe’s expanding Harrah’s Casino and general customers in a two-county area that includes the EBCI boundary. The need for power upgrades in the area has been communicated to the EBCI and Swain County, he added.
“This line (that would be attached to the substation) is the one that needs to be upgraded. We make sure when we upgrade a line that it will be big enough to serve that region well into the future,” Walls said.
He said Duke Energy did not anticipate the backlash it has received regarding the substation.
“It was certainly something we didn’t plan for on the front end,” he said.
He said a meeting between the tribes and Duke earlier in the process may have prevented some misunderstandings.
“We wish we would have been having these conversations with folks in the community months earlier. Following our standard process, it wasn’t required, but looking back we certainly wish we would have invested the time to sit down with both the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian leadership, as well as the Swain County Commissioners to help them understand what we were doing and why we were doing it,” he said.
Reach Staff Writer Will Chavez at (918) 207-3961 or will-chavez@cherokee.org