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Board denies Duke Energy easement memorandum for underground connection through Lake Townsend Park
Summary
After residents and commissioners raised conservation and equity concerns, the board voted 4-0 to deny a Duke Energy memorandum of understanding to place underground transmission connectors through Lake Townsend Park and associated preserve lands.
Hernando County commissioners voted 4-0 March 11 to deny a proposed memorandum of understanding and easement request from Duke Energy to install underground distribution lines and equipment through portions of Lake Townsend Park and adjacent preserve lands.
Duke Energy representatives told the board the installation was a limited, primarily underground connection to link a solar project to the existing grid and that the easement had been reduced to a 75-foot corridor, with most infrastructure underground and a short above-ground junction box. Duke said the National Park Service (NPS) and other federal reviewers still had to sign off and that the company had reduced on-site impacts after earlier comments.
Commissioners and residents raised objections that the installation would run through county preserve land and that the energy generated would not be dedicated to Hernando County residents. "If it’s going through the preserve and it's going to be charging systems that are not Hernando County, that raises major concerns for me," Commissioner Ramsler said during discussion. Other commissioners noted earlier disagreements with Duke over local traffic- and school-related easements and said the utility had been uncooperative in prior local planning discussions.
Duke Energy’s project manager said the company expects the renewable project to energize the equivalent of roughly 23,000 homes on the regional grid but acknowledged the grid cannot be directed to deliver generation to any single county. Duke also said the company had removed overhead language and limited the easement width to minimize impacts.
After sustained public comment and an extended exchange with Duke representatives, Commissioner Hawkins moved to deny the MOU; Commissioner Loco seconded and the motion carried 4-0. The board did not adopt the easement and asked staff to continue coordination with partners on the project, including the National Park Service, and to seek cooperative solutions that avoid cutting preserve lands when possible.
