DELAND, Fla. — Neighbors in DeLand are pushing back against a proposed Duke Energy project that would put 120-foot poles on their properties.
If approved, the area would get a new energy substation near International Speedway Boulevard and Spring Garden Avenue, which would connect to another substation off Hazen Road.
The project would take 7 years to finish.
Duke said the power lines are necessary to keep homes, hospitals, and schools running and that they will withstand severe weather. But people who live there don’t want massive poles on their properties or the years of construction that come along with them.
The project would impact more than 60 properties on her street.
“In addition, we have a school, we have traffic everyday. Imagine those power trucks. They’re big trucks that are setting these poles,” said Vicky Chatham.
Christy Taylor claims neighbors weren’t properly notified.
“Our neighbor started knocking on our door saying do you guys know this happened without us and we’re like no we didn’t and now our only chance to fight this is to present our comments on an online survey,” said Taylor.
Duke said the infrastructure is needed to support the area’s growing population. The transmission lines will carry large amounts of energy over long distances, leading to more reliable service in the community.
Duke is also considering a route along Spring Garden Avenue. Ted Batchelder believes that would be more appropriate.
“The other proposed route is more commercial and the size they’re looking, it would make more sense to have commercial near commercial,” said Batchelder.
We asked Duke for input on the project and proposed locations, and this was their response:
“Duke Energy is completing critical infrastructure upgrades to strengthen our electric grid and make it more resilient so we can continue providing safe, reliable service for our customers on ‘blue-sky’ days and in extreme weather conditions, be it an afternoon thunderstorm or a hurricane.
For example, we are currently in the planning stage of building a new substation on International Speedway Boulevard and North Spring Garden Avenue, connecting to our DeLand Substation. As part of this project, we will also construct a new transmission line between the new substation and our DeLand Substation – this will provide an additional path for power, helping us meet the growing demand for electricity in the area, while minimizing the risk of outages during storms.
Several routes have been proposed for this new transmission line and were discussed at an open house on Feb. 17. We value the input we received from local residents and business owners during this event and encourage them to continue submitting their thoughts and concerns online, via email (FLTransmissionEnhancements@duke-energy.com) or by phone (877.840.0101) through the end of the public comment period, which ends on March 17.
We will take this feedback into consideration and use it to make a decision that reflects the best interests of this community later this year."
Neighbors have until March 17 to share concerns online.
The survey can be found here.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2026 Cox Media Group
