Franklin County cuts deal to OK Transource power-line project

• Unnati Akhouri
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An electricity transmission line in Franklin County that has faced opposition since 2018 got a green light from the county.

Franklin County commissioners, who had opposed the project, struck a $9 million deal to allow Transource to build the line.

According to the settlement, upon completion of the Independence Energy Connection project, the company will pay $5 million to the county to offset impacts of the project.

Transource can use the remaining $4 million for changes to the project path based on public feedback.

The project was selected in 2016 by PJM, the regional grid operator, to reduce energy congestion and meet demands in neighboring states.

PJM says electricity was “trapped” in Pennsylvania, producing artificially low prices in Pennsylvania and artificially high prices in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C. 

Landowners and others have protested the project since 2018, saying the 29-mile line through the county, with five to seven towers per mile, will have a direct negative impact on land and property values, and will not benefit the community.

The county commissioners formally protested the project in 2018, saying there would be no benefit for Franklin County taxpayers —”in fact, the project has the potential to cost them more with no added savings.” 

In cases of congestion, after a project is built, electricity costs go up in some areas, while costs go down in areas previously affected by congestion, PJM said in a court filing. The grid operator said the increased prices are not a downside of the project, “but represent elimination of inefficiency the project was designed to address.”

The court filing is part of a case that has been going on for years. 

In 2021, Pennsylvania’s Public Utility Commission rejected the project, saying there was no “need” for a project that negatively impacts Pennsylvanians. 

Transource appealed. Last year, U.S. Middle District Court in Harrisburg overturned the PUC’s decision. 

Earlier this year, PUC appealed to the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals.  

PJM, in favor of Transource, told the Third Circuit court in a filing that state utility commissions have authority over siting, not over planning.

PJM said denying a project that was approved by PJM, under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s process, reflected a “clear conflict between federal and state law”. 

Scott Wyland of Salzmann Hughes, who represented Franklin County in the settlement with Transource said the county “recognized that there was an opportunity to enter into a settlement that would provide funds in the future to mitigate the effects of the project.”

However, the project still needs to file for another round of approval from the PUC, and will have to meet the regional grid operator’s cost-benefit analysis before being built. 

PJM’s analysis, released in May 2024, concluded that the project now increases congestion. 

“The project currently remains suspended (not canceled) and will be evaluated annually until there is final resolution,” a PJM spokesperson said via email.

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