Almost 200 people attended a three-hour public open house in West Point to have officials from energy company Southern Cross Transmission answer their questions about a proposed HDVC transmission line that may run through their property.
Though the route for the line is not finalized, Southern Cross Transmission, a subsidiary of Pattern Energy Group, sent out letters to 6,500 people in Mississippi alerting them of potential routes for the line that could cross their property, according to President Denton Gibbes. Holding a public open house for the property owners was a way to answer their questions and get feedback about the project and the land itself.
For the most part, meeting attendees wanted to know how the project, a 400-mile transmission line from Texas to the Alabama border, would affect their own property, said Southern Cross Public Involvement Manager Joab Ortiz. It was a question that wouldn’t be answered definitively until the Public Service Commission determines where the line will go this fall. Getting comments from people with homes and property near the line will help determine that final route.
“We’re really wanting to engage anyone who’s near a route,” Ortiz said.
The project aims to link wind energy in Texas to the transmission grid and customers in the Southeast. Roughly 200 miles of the line will cross the state. Southern Cross Transmission estimates the total investment in Mississippi to be about $700 million.
Attendees had the chance to talk to Southern Cross officials, see where the proposed routes were and even leave comments for the company through a special computer program. Aerial maps were set up showing the proposed routes. They cross several areas in the Golden Triangle but focus mainly in and around northern Lowndes and Clay counties, looping around West Point, Columbus Air Force Base and Caledonia.
Property owners could pull up their individual parcels of land on a computer program and submit comments about everything from the geography of the land, whether the land is a historic site and proposed building projects.
Jane Lewis, who lives in the Maben area, attended the meeting to learn where the line would be and if it would affect her property. She said the meeting was informative, despite Southern Cross not knowing where the line will go yet.
“They told us it would not go over our building,” she said.
The Public Service Commission is expected to determine the final route this fall. Construction will begin in 2018 and the line should be completed by 2021, Gibbes said.
Those who did not attend the meeting still have the chance to go online at www.SouthernCrossTransmission.com and [email protected] to have their questions answered and to see maps of proposed routes, Gibbes said.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.