The Route 29 Pavilion is setting up for a music festival this weekend with headliners DaBaby and 50 Cent, even as the owners of the venue are facing charges for stealing power from Duke Energy and making their own power grid.
Edward Little and Michael Kluttz were arrested one week ago for allegedly making their own power grid at the Ver El RV Park and Route 29 Pavilion. Investigators say they stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in Duke Energy power. The pair was also charged with money laundering.
The Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office says residents of the RV park were paying the park owners for the power that Kluttz and Little were allegedly stealing.
“My immediate thought was like, ‘I’m paying you, where’s my money?’” said Stephanie Blackwood.
Blackwood and others lost power last week when Duke Energy had to dig up the unmetered power lines during their investigation. She was left to find somewhere else to live, and she’s now wondering how the owners can hold a music festival but not refund her money.
“You’re still getting the income from that. I was left to the wolves, and I’m still in process of trying to figure it out,” Blackwood said.
The Be More Grateful Music Festival is set to take place Saturday on the property, with a slew of headliners joining DaBaby and 50 Cent.
We wanted to know how they would proceed after power lines were removed last week.
A representative with the festival said, “Our team has worked closely with the appropriate agencies and officials to ensure all necessary requirements have been addressed.”
Channel 9’s Hannah Goetz also reached out to Cabarrus County about any safety concerns. A spokesperson said code enforcement representatives issued a stop work order in the last week to the festival so it could review information, but that order has since been lifted. The county says code enforcement is aware of the criminal investigation associated with the site.
“County officials are advised that the festival’s staging and concert grounds are outside the area of primary concern,” the county said in a statement.
Duke Energy has de-energized all of the improper wiring, the county said.
Duke Energy also told Channel 9 that decisions about the music festival “rest with the private entities hosting the event and the relevant county authorities.”
A spokesperson for the music festival said they have implemented a “comprehensive infrastructure plan,” including “independent power, potable water, sanitation, and wastewater management systems, to ensure the safety of all attendees, vendors, artists, and staff.”
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