MOULTRIE, Ga. — Turn on a light or dishwasher, or on a sweltering August afternoon the air conditioner, and there’s a good chance those things are running on power generated using natural gas.

That convenience requires a system of underground pipes carrying the fuel from where it’s produced to where it’s needed.

Colquitt Countians learned — some more intimately than others — that this brings with it sacrifices for those whose land and homes are close to these subterranean behemoths when a pipeline company revealed in 2013 that one of two routes under consideration would take it through the area.

Sabal Trail Transmission, a joint venture between Spectra Energy and NextEra Energy Inc., eventually chose the route that takes it through Dougherty and Mitchell counties to the northwest before entering Colquitt County just north of Sale City and running southwest until it enters Brooks County.

The 36-inch-diameter, Alabama-to-Florida, pipeline was proposed to serve Florida Power County and Light Co., in particular a new gas-fired plant. It is expected to carry about a billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.

  The 465-mile pipeline will stretch Tallapoosa County, Ala., to Osceola County, Fla., near Orlando, where it will connect with an existing pipeline.

Crews are working in all three states for the project scheduled for completion next year.

Specific numbers are not available for individual counties, but for Southwest Georgia as a whole about 80 percent of the route has been cleared and 60 percent of pipe is in the ground, said Andrea Grover, director, stakeholder outreach for Sabal Trail.

About 15 percent of the area has been restored through that part of the route, she said in an email response.

In Colquitt County, the state’s biggest agricultural county, one concern was the depth of the pipe underneath fields where farmers till the soil.

Colquitt County Commission formally asked the company to bury pipe at a depth of five feet underneath farmland and underneath county-maintained infrastructure such as roads and culverts along waterways. Along most of the route the pipe will have 36 inches of cover.

Those concerns were taken into consideration, Grover said.

“Sabal Trail committed to a minimum of four feet of cover in actively tilled agricultural land,” she said. “Additionally, Sabal Trail committed to work with each individual farmer to determine design and construction parameters should any other considerations be needed (such as) crop types, tilling depths, irrigation systems, equipment usage, livestock, etc. Also, up to 12 inches of top soil for the entire width of the construction right-of-way will be segregated in cultivated field areas. The top soil will be returned and graded over the right-of-way as the final step in restoration.”

At the county’s request, the company also agreed to install a side tap here as part of its outreach program. That tap is to be installed during construction.

The side tap will allow for distribution of natural gas here in the future if needed.

Those concessions don’t mean the company has received a warm welcome from all quarters, however. Some landowners fought in the courts to prevent it coming across their property.

In October, protesters in Live Oak, Fla., blocked a road to slow down the traffic of Sabal Trail trucks. And last month it was reported that protesters were arrested in Gilchrist County, Fla., while trying to block truck traffic.

Those protesters are challenging the pipeline due to concerns about pollution of water in the event of a leak.

The approval by the Federal Energy Regulation Commission, whose responsibilities include reviewing gas pipeline proposals, supercedes state- and county-level government in those projects that fall under the category of interstate commerce.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency initially had issues with the pipeline, but later withdrew those objections.

Grover said that the company has received cooperation and patience from residents, for the most part.

“Sabal Trail respects the right of individuals to peacefully protest and express their positions in public areas,” she said. “It is our obligation to safely and securely construct and operate our facilities, and we can neither tolerate nor allow trespassing. We continue to implore peaceful protestors not to place themselves or our contractors in an unsafe situation.”

So far the company has purchased about $9 million in goods and services in the area since construction started, Grover said. The $3.2 billion project is expected to be completed and in service by the end of June 2017. Sabal Trail hosted contractor fairs, including in May 2016 in Moultrie seeking vendors, suppliers and workers, and many direct and indirect jobs were created with the construction.

“Additionally, based on the pipeline’s footprint in the county, Colquitt County can expect an estimated $745,000 in taxes,” she said. “This ad valorem tax is paid annually once the pipeline is operational. I also greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Troy Construction and the Sabal Trail team for food and toy drives during the holidays. They really made a tremendous effort to help those less fortunate.”