'Not for the public good': Data center proposal casts shadow over Union, Lycoming counties

What he saw when he finally reached the maps stopped him cold.

"At that point in time, it was the very first time that I had any clue that that power line was coming straight across the middle of my farm, running between my chicken house and my rental house," Taylor said.

Of the nine route segments PPL presented that evening in the Clinton Township Firehall, Taylor said approximately six cross land he actively farms. The consequences, he said, will be lasting.

Three years ago, Taylor said, a helicopter pilot was killed in a crash involving high-tension lines. Since then, aerial applicators have refused to fly over farms with high-voltage lines. If the corridor is built as proposed, Taylor said he will permanently lose the ability to apply fungicide or foliar feed by helicopter across much of his operation.

"We are going to take an economic decrease for the rest of our lives," he said. "Because of this data center."

At first, PNK Group's proposed data center complex only seemed to affect the small population of Gregg Township. Now, it requires plans reaching over the Union County line into Lycoming County, including Washington and Brady townships, as well. 

Taylor's position puts him in an almost impossible spot. His farm is in the corridor's path, as is the farm of fellow supervisor George Ulrich. Both men will be forced to recuse themselves from any related votes, only leaving Supervisor Zach Cleaver to decide matters with just over six months of experience on the board.

"If I fight this to get it off my farm, that's just pushing it onto one of my constituents," Taylor said. "I really don't know what the right answer to this is."

The line and what it's for

PPL is looking to build approximately nine miles of new 230,000-volt transmission lines across Lycoming and Union counties. The proposed corridor would require steel monopole towers ranging from 90 to 180 feet tall, and 150-foot right-of-ways.

Several potential routes cross residential properties, farmland, and state game lands. Construction, pending approval from the Pa. Public Utility Commission, is anticipated to begin in winter 2027 and conclude by winter 2029.

PPL has described the project as necessary to meet "growing energy needs" and serve "new customer facilities." PNK Group has already constructed a building they hope to move a data center into. Additionally, they plan up to a total of four data centers to operate in their proposed complex.

At the June 3 open house, representatives confirmed what residents had long suspected: if PNK Group's proposed data center at Great Stream Commons in Gregg Township does not move forward, the transmission line does not either.

"This is not for the public good," said Terry Snoddy, a Route 44 resident whose farm lies in segment D3, attended the open house. "It is solely for the benefit of one entity."

Snoddy's statement mirrored Matthew DeWire's of the Concerned Citizens of Gregg Township, as he raised the question of cost when news first came of the transmission line.

"Who pays those transmission fees? Because it certainly sounds like the public could ultimately be subsidizing infrastructure built primarily for a private data center project," DeWire said.

PPL told landowners at the open house that a route will be selected July 7, with right-of-way acquisition to follow. The utility's target completion date is 2028.

PPL also stated it does not want to route the line through Alvira, the village taken by eminent domain in the late stages of World War II to make way for TNT factories, which were subsequently torn down. It used to be a farming community. Now, it's known for its bunkers. 

Lawyers on top of lawyers

Gregg Township has retained Richard Shoch, a Sunbury-based attorney with more than 20 years of municipal law experience, as special counsel to help draft zoning protections related to the data center proposal. 

A public hearing on proposed zoning amendments in Gregg Township was pushed back from an original June 1 date. A new date in July has not yet been set.

Washington Township appointed J. Michael Wiley of McCormick Law Firm, Williamsport, as its solicitor in January. The township's legal strategy regarding the transmission line has not been made public.

At the time of Wiley's appointment, the data center's reach stopped at the Union County line. Wiley was recently quoted as an attorney for PNK Group in late May while the announcement was made that the June 1 Gregg Township zoning hearing would be pushed back to sometime in July. It is not known exactly when he was hired by PNK Group. 

PPL explains

On the transmission side, PPL communications manager Timothy Stokes confirmed in written correspondence that landowners who cannot reach voluntary agreements with the utility may ultimately face eminent domain proceedings, though the company must first obtain PUC authorization. Pennsylvania law does not permit PPL to condemn a landowner's primary residence.

On right-of-ways, or easements, Stokes said, "When PPL Electric Utilities obtains a right-of-way easement, landowners can continue using the property in many ways, but some restrictions are needed to safely build, operate and maintain electric transmission facilities."

For example, structures generally cannot be built within the easement area, and vegetation must be managed "so the line can operate safely and reliably." For agricultural properties, farming can typically continue within the right-of-way after construction, including "planting up to the base of the poles."

"Once the necessary approvals and property rights are in place, construction can include installing environmental controls and access roads, clearing trees where needed, placing structures and restoring disturbed areas after construction. Once built, the right-of-way must be maintained so crews can safely access the facilities and vegetation does not interfere with safe, reliable operation," he explained.

Preserved land, and a route that already exists

The transmission line's proposed routing has drawn particular criticism from those familiar with the valley's land use history.

Gregg and Washington townships together contain over 3,600 acres of preserved farmland, whose owners have signed agreements with the state restricting development on their own properties. Routing a transmission corridor through that land, critics say, would allow a utility to do what the landowners themselves legally cannot.

Snoddy, in written comments after the open house, argued that a more logical route already exists: a right-of-way running from the supplying substation to Route 15 along the base of Bald Eagle Ridge, crossing game lands and federal prison property rather than private farms.

When he raised it at the meeting, he said, a PPL representative appeared unaware of it until an attendee pointed it out.

He also pushed back on PPL's claim that the company cannot access the federal prison property, noting that roughly a mile of existing PPL line already runs through it.

"For almost 85 years the White Deer Valley has borne the brunt of 'for the public good,'" Snoddy wrote, noting that roughly 8,000 acres of what was once private land in the valley is now publicly held. "It is high time that the tables be turned so that public land is sacrificed for the good of one entity."