SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — The Scranton zoning board has given the green light to a controversial solar project in the northern part of the city.
A Colorado-based company, Bear Peak Power, plans to build Scranton’s first commercial solar farm, but not everyone who lives in that area is on board.
The zoning board voted three to two to approve a variance for Bear Peak Power to install over 6,500 solar panels on nearly 14 acres of land between Interstate 81 and the Morgan Highway.
The project will produce enough energy to power up to 500 homes and will connect directly to the PPL distribution line.
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"We already have Pennsylvania PUC approval for generation and uptake into the distribution grid," explained Ryan McQuigg, Bear Peak Power.
This solar farm would be the first of its kind in Scranton, but not everyone is happy about it. Residents living near the proposed site, have concerns about decreased property values, loss of forest, and wildlife.
"They are going to be clear-cutting every one of the trees that are there, they already said they will level basically the whole area. There's also every type of wildlife in the state of PA that lives in those woods, so what happens to all these protected creatures? What happens to all the animals that live in these woods? Now they are going to be down in the city, now they are going to go to Clarks Summit, now they're gonna be wandering down to the railroad tracks getting hit by cars on the expressway," said Jeremy Srebro, resident.
Srebro is also concerned about the site's proximity to an old landfill that was never properly decommissioned.
"My big concern is the main entrance to those mineshafts, as you see on that map, is right below my house so as soon as they start disrupting that stuff, and it starts pushing through, flowing through, then it's going to go right underneath my house and onto the railroad tracks, then from the railroad tracks, it drains straight to Leggett Creek," explained Srebro.
Srebro says he and his neighbors fear a repeat of past issues from when UGI developed near the planned solar farm site.
"The runoff, when they clear cut the land up higher for UGI, all of a sudden our properties were washed out, and that was much higher up, so if they do this right behind houses now all that water is going to flow straight down and wash out the road," said Srebro.
Srebro and other residents brought these concerns to the zoning board. While board members considered postponing the vote to address them, they ultimately decided to move forward, approving the project with a three to two vote. The company plans to complete further reviews over the next 12 to 18 months, with construction potentially starting in late 2026 or early 2027.
