Debate is heating up over a proposed $2.5 billion hydroelectric project along the Susquehanna River in Chanceford Township, York County.
- The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is assessing whether to grant project developer York Energy Storage LLC a preliminary permit, which would allow the company to undertake up to four years of feasibility studies.
- Hundreds of local residents and officials have filed formal comments with FERC warning about the project’s potential impact on farms, homes and natural resources.
- But in a letter filed last week, York Energy Storage member Bill McMahon said none of the objections raised so far are a “proper basis” for denying the preliminary permit.
- If anyone still has issues after the feasibility studies are done, they can be addressed during the licensing process, McMahon wrote, adding that a permit denial at this stage could be viewed as a denial of due process and “as an irrational tilt to non-scientific, non-financial, non-technical, non-policy and largely emotional based comments of objectors.”
- In a subsequent interview, McMahon defended the project as matching state goals of encouraging renewable energy and helping prepare for future power demands.
- “What we’re trying to do is what is best for the most people for the long term,” McMahon said.
- Among other arguments, opponents fear the project will harm recreational areas along the Susquehanna that conservation groups have been working to protect and preserve.
- The Lancaster Planning Commission, for example, condemned the hydro project as a “grave threat” to the region’s heritage.
- “Rejecting the facility is imperative to maintain the delicate balance of this cherished landscape, which holds deep significance for our community,” the commission wrote in comments to FERC.
The project: It would entail pumping water from the Susquehanna into a newly created reservoir and then releasing the water as needed to create electricity.
- The reservoir would spread over 560 acres in an area known as Cuffs Run.
- The entire project would take up about 1,000 acres and likely require the use of eminent domain.
- The public-comment period ends March 31.
