Residents of a Charlotte-area neighborhood continued to raise questions and concerns about a potential electric substation in their backyards at a community meeting Thursday night.

Officials in Pineville say it’s a necessary project to keep the lights on as the community grows. But residents of the McCollough neighborhood — which stretches from the town across the state line into Fort Mill, South Carolina — are worried about the impacts on their property values, safety and health.

And on Thursday, some asked why the town hadn’t considered future infrastructure needs more when deciding on past development deals.

“All we’re asking you all to do with this project is take a step back, do the due diligence and explore a myriad of options so that we can find the best suitable location,” one attendee said.

What’s planned in Pineville?

McCollough residents raised concerns about the project when they first heard about it in early December.

Pineville is working to buy about an acre at the intersection of Miller Road and Greenway Drive for a new electric substation to accommodate growth in the area and “serve as a back-up source to an existing substation,” the town said in a Dec. 5 news release. The town picked the site because it was the “most economical and least obtrusive to the community,” and the substation would be enclosed by a brick wall with plants around the outside, according to the news release.

The town initially thought they’d have till 2026 or 2027 to get another substation online, officials said at Thursday’s meeting, but accelerated growth moved up that timeline. The project would need to be completed by the end of 2025 to avoid issues, David Lucore, Pineville’s electric services manager and a systems manager for ElectriCities of North Carolina, said.

Pineville Electric, which provides electric services in the town, is a public provider that’s part of ElectriCities, which provides services to member organizations. Public power providers differ from utility companies such as Duke Energy because they are part of local governments and often part of membership organizations such as ElectriCities.

The town picked the site out of 10 locations that were examined, town manager Ryan Spitzer and Lucore told the crowd Thursday.

Complications with the other sites included proximity to floodplains and wetlands and distance from usable transmission lines.

“There’s not a whole lot of options,” Lucore said.

Town staff will present more details to the Town Council at its Jan. 22 work session, and a public hearing will be held at the Town Council meeting on Feb. 13. It’s likely the council won’t vote on the issue until their March meeting, according to Spitzer.

It’s estimated the project will cost more than $5 million, and it would be paid for by electric revenues rather than tax dollars.

Addressing residents concerns at community meeting

Although Spitzer and Lucore outlined why town staff are currently leaning toward the site neighbors don’t want, both stressed that “no decisions have been made.”

“We heard your questions,” Spitzer told the crowd of more than 100 Thursday night.

One top concern: the potential impact of electromagnetic fields emanating from the substation on residents’ health. Lucore, citing studies shared by the World Health Organization, said he’s found no conclusive evidence of such a threat from the levels that could be found at the site.

Experts say there’s not a clear-cut connection between exposure to electromagnetic fields and health issues.

“The possible link between electromagnetic fields and cancer has been a subject of controversy for several decades,” the American Cancer Society says, because “it’s not clear exactly how electromagnetic fields, a form of low-energy, non-ionizing radiation, could increase cancer risk.”

The Environmental Protection Agency notes that, while the World Health Organization “classifies extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans,” “scientific studies have not consistently shown whether exposure to any source of EMF increases cancer risk.”

Some residents also shared concerns about safety in the wake of an attack on another North Carolina substation that drew attention nationwide. In December 2022, about 45,000 homes and businesses in Moore County lost power for days after an attack on an electrical substation.

Lucore pledged that if the project moves forward, it will be “better protected than any other substation in the country.”

“We’re going to put in as much security as we’re capable of putting in,” he said.

Realtor Sean McGovern also spoke at Thursday’s meeting about the potential impact of the project of property values. Homes in the neighborhood “tend to range from around $390,000 to about $765,000,” according to Charlotte-based Terra Vista Realty.

McGovern, who said he’s also a McCollough resident and has his own issues with the plan, acknowledged that there’s “potential for decrease in value” but that the long-term impacts on real estate are “tough to say.”

Residents: Consider our concerns, and other sites

McCollough resident Jen Kennedy, who was chosen to speak on behalf of the neighborhood at Thursday’s meeting, said she and her neighbors appreciated town officials putting the event together.

“You shared a lot this evening, and we do feel that we have a better understanding,” she said.

But, she added, “we do still believe that we are just started scratching the surface of understanding this process … we still have unanswered questions.”

“We believe that it is the responsibility of the town, and especially our elected officials, to provide us with all the information and allow our voice to be heard first and foremost before a decision of this magnitude is made,” she said.

Multiple residents at the meeting questioned why more consideration hasn’t been given to one of the other 10 sites that was examined.

That site is near the controversial site but further from the subdivision. It would cost about $1 million more than the currently chosen site, Lucore said, an expense that could be passed on to consumers through higher rates. But some at the meeting said they’d be willing to take on a slightly higher electric bill to pay that higher cost.

Both parcels in question are owned by the same family, who own and run Miller’s Flea Market on the land.

Spitzer indicated that the Miller family, through their attorney, have been resistant to sell either plot. But members of the family in attendance Thursday and their representatives spoke up to say they’d be more open to selling the other land than the controversial site.

They’re concerned about the impact of the project on their business, including a loss of more than 100 parking spaces, they said.

If the Millers continue their opposition to a sale, “there are other options the town has,” Spitzer said.

That comment drew ire from the crowd, including concern about the potential use of eminent domain. Multiple attendees continued to question why town leaders didn’t think ahead more about future infrastructure needs when considering developments and why the community wasn’t informed about the substation earlier.

Some accused Spitzer of trying to take “the easy route” on the project.

“If I was taking the easy route on this, we wouldn’t be having this meeting,” Spitzer said.