Councilman Humphries says county is frontrunner for Duke Power Company nuclear facility

Ledger Staff Writer

Cherokee County is a frontrunner to land a nuclear power station.

Cherokee County Councilman Bailey Humphries said that was the message he received last Wednesday in conversations with Duke Power officials in Columbia.

“They said that Cherokee County was probably the strongest location since they already have a permitted site here,” Humphries said.

Duke Power officials announced earlier this month they were researching the cost of constructing three power plants in the next decade, Humphries said. The plants, which would be located in the western Carolinas, are needed to meet the utility giant’s growing customer base.

Humphries said the plant would be similar to Duke’s Oconee and Catawba nuclear stations.

Duke began constructing a nuclear plant here in the 1980s on a 2,000-acre site in the McKown’s Mountain area. Duke scuttled those plans and sold the property to North Carolina filmmaker Earl Owensby.

Humphries said he hopes Duke officials strongly consider Cherokee County.