Representatives from the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Piedmont Environmental Alliance and the Sierra Club urged the Kernersville Board of Aldermen on Sept. 24 to adopt a resolution opposing the Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company's (Transco's) Southeast Supply Enhancement project (also called the Salem Loop in parts of filings), saying the project would bring safety, health and climate risks to local institutions and homes while providing little local economic benefit.

Shelley Robbins of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and Jessica Mendez Rowe of the Piedmont Environmental Alliance presented maps and regulatory timelines to the board. They told aldermen that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is expected to issue a draft environmental assessment followed by a 30-day comment window around November with an administrative deadline cited in their presentation of Dec. 7. They said state-level review is under way as well: the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality's (DEQ) public comment period on a Section 401 water-quality permit for the project is open and closes Oct. 6, 2025, the presenters said.

Presenters said Transco proposes a 42-inch, high-pressure pipeline segment through Forsyth County in a corridor that already contains three large-diameter high-pressure pipelines. They said industry guidance (Interstate Natural Gas Association of America) recommends 50 feet of separation between large-diameter pipelines; the existing right-of-way has about 25 feet between pipes in places. Presenters and a Sierra Club member who spoke, Paul Kelly, emphasized that two nearby health care facilities ' the VA clinic and Novant Kernersville Medical Center ' are within the area the presenters called a high-consequence area, and that standard blast-radius calculations for a single pipeline do not address co-location of multiple pipelines.

Speakers argued the pipeline would serve large utilities and export markets rather than local customers. The presenters said two-thirds of contracted capacity is held by a major power company (they named Duke Energy in discussion), and that ratepayers ultimately pay for pipeline capacity and associated rate-base returns. They said the project would create few permanent local jobs and could place long-term costs and safety risks onto the community, including lines that cross major roadways (U.S. 421, NC-66, I-40, I-74) and several schools and public institutions in Forsyth County.

The presenters asked the board to adopt a formal resolution opposing the pipeline and to file that resolution with FERC and in state permitting comment periods so the town's concerns are part of the administrative record. No formal vote on a resolution took place at the Sept. 24 meeting; presenters said deadlines at both the federal and state levels make municipal comment relevant and timely.

Ending: Presenters provided contact information for follow-up and urged aldermen to consider adopting a resolution ahead of upcoming comment deadlines so the town's views would be included in FERC and DEQ review.