On February 1, 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a preliminary permit to York Energy Storage, LLC for the pumped hydroelectric storage project the company proposes in York County. The preliminary permit gives York Energy Storage priority for building a project on the site (essentially calling dibs) and opens up a public input period as the company begins to assemble the studies and other documents necessary for a full license application. That license would allow the company to build the project and use eminent domain to force property owners on the site to sell.
The public has 60 days from the preliminary permit date to submit comments to the FERC. Any comment submitted should include the docket number P-15332-000 and can be submitted by the FERC’s eComment system or by paper.
By Bernard Brown in Grist, February 12, 2024
In winter, the two sides of Old Bridgeville Road in eastern York County, about 70 miles west of Philadelphia, don’t look all that different. Tan fields of corn and soy stubble cover the rolling hills to the east and to the west, broken up by patches of woods and dotted with houses and farm buildings.
If the proposed York Energy Storage project is built, though, the view to the east will be dominated by a 580-acre reservoir. Up to 25,000 acre-feet of water would be held back by a 9,800-foot-long dam up to 225 feet tall as well as dikes to either side, one 700 feet long and up to 90 feet tall and another 1,300 feet long and up to 35 feet tall. York Energy Storage LLC, the company proposing the project, says that it will fill an important role in a green energy future. The question is whether this is true, and at what cost to the people in the way.
Jake and Jen Horton live in a white farmhouse on 70 acres of crop fields and pastures that would be underneath the surface of the proposed reservoir. Near the house stand four outbuildings including two yet-unpainted barns. A fire in March destroyed the previous barns and the Hortons rebuilt them over the summer, racing to finish before they had to put up hay for the winter. “What we’re looking at would be underwater,” Jake Horton says.
EP editor’s Note: Many of you, while reading the Grid story above, may flash back to the battle over the construction of the Tocks Island dam on the Delaware River. Here is some history of that event.
The Tocks Island Dam controversy (National Park Service)
Tocks Island Dam Controversy ( Wikipedia)
Tocks Island Dam Aftermath (Jim Alexander video)
The lasting legacy of Nancy Shukaitis, Tocks Dam fighter (Morning Call)
We invite your comments on the York, PA dam/reservoir proposal and/or your memories of Tocks Island.
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