BLACK CREEK TOWNSHIP, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— A massive power line project is facing growing push back in Luzerne County.
Some neighbors say it is a threat to their land and their way of life, but the power company insists it is critical to meet future demand.
28/22's Brian Orbin has the story.
A 240-foot tower, that's the equivalent of a 20-story building, and it's just one piece of what could soon stretch 12 miles through the Sugarloaf valley.
It's part of a proposed 500-kilovolt transmission line from PPL Electric Utilities.
Blighted property in limbo as neighbors raise concern
The company says it's needed to meet growing energy demands in the region, but thousands of residents are now banding together to stop it.
"We don't want our way of life, and the way of life for future generations, to be destroyed for big profit business," expressed Dr. Andrew Sanko, Alliance to Stop the Line.
Over 2,500 members have joined a group called Alliance to Stop the Line.
About three dozen showed up at a public meeting Saturday, one of several held since the project was announced.
"Loss of property value, loss of privacy, risk and danger, those lines, they could come down, and when they hit the ground, they explode," explained John Zola, Alliance to Stop the Line.
PPL says it's selected a route that uses an existing corridor, parts of a right-of-way more than 100 years old, in hopes of minimizing disruption to existing lines.
"When we look at our proposed alternatives, we try to pick the route that has the least community and environmental impacts," stated Shelby Linton-Keddie, PPL.
It's not just about power lines.
For these neighbors, it's about peace of mind, protecting property values, and preserving the land they've called home for generations, but on the other hand, demand for data is growing and someone has to carry the load.
Still, residents claim the corridor is inconsistent and worry it may have to be widened, cutting dangerously close to homes.
"I'm not against powerlines. I'm not against data centers. Its the way of the future. What I am against is recklessness and lack of transparency," voiced Sanko.
When asked about the rumors of a data center being planned in the region, PPL spokeswoman Linton-Keddie said the planned line wasn't proposed to benefit just one customer, but the region as a whole.
"Supporting growth in the community as a whole so it's not to serve any one customer, it's to accommodate growth in the area," said Linton-Keddie.
Zola says the group has offered alternative routes and collected more than 1,600 petition signatures.
No construction has begun and the official proposal won't be filed until later this year.
The coalition says they are prepared to fight the project for as long as it takes.
PPL would neither confirm nor deny the possibility of a data center being built for this project.
