Plans to build a second substation in the Vine City neighborhood has pit Georgia Power — which says the plant is necessary to strengthen the area’s grid — against residents who are deeply opposed to the location.

It’s not the first facility of its kind to be constructed in the middle of the historic community ; another sits less than a half-mile away from the proposed site, between Foundry and Magnolia streets along Northside Drive.

Residents rallied against the project after informational materials shared with community leaders by Georgia Power said the substation would help support energy needs about 2 miles away in the Gulch, to help transform it as part of the multibillion-dollar Centennial Yards redevelopment.

The utility company backed away from that early messaging Thursday a

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