Residents press council for moratorium on LERTA south of Susquehanna as 500 kV power-line and data-center plans draw protest

Residents from Sugarloaf and south-county communities urged Luzerne County Council to block future LERTA tax abatements and to reconsider previously approved LERTA grants for projects south of the Susquehanna power plant, saying a proposed 500 kV transmission line and potential data centers threaten homes, farmland and public health.

John Zola of Sugarloaf, who identified himself as founder of the Alliance to Stop the Line, said his group has gathered thousands of signatures opposing the 12-mile, 500 kV line proposed by the utility and asked council to place two separate items on next month’s agenda: (1) a moratorium on all future LERTA approvals south of the nuclear plant and (2) suspension of previously approved LERTA awards in that area. Zola and other speakers asked council to require a public hearing and stronger environmental and siting scrutiny before any tax-abatement schedule is approved.

Council’s infrastructure committee previously discussed a LERTA schedule; during the work session on Aug. 5 a motion to add a moratorium discussion to the work-session agenda passed (7 yes, 3 no). Members then debated more specific action: several council members and the Office of Law said the county cannot rescind LERTA approvals already lawfully granted without risking litigation. Attorney remarks in the meeting warned that retroactive suspension could lead to lawsuits.

Council nonetheless agreed to put the moratorium question on the next voting-session agenda for further deliberation and to seek additional specificity about scope (a blanket ban versus targeted restrictions such as for data centers or projects that would depend on the contested transmission line). Council members urged petitioners to coordinate outreach with affected school districts and municipal governments because those local bodies also play roles in tax-abatement decisions.

Speakers emphasized environmental and health concerns tied to the transmission line proposal — including electromagnetic-field exposure, property impacts and herbicide use for right-of-way maintenance — and said alternative routing and private funding options should be explored so utilities and potential tenants do not run lines through residential areas.

County staff and several council members emphasized legal and practical limits: a moratorium on future LERTA actions is within council’s prerogative and was set for a future vote, but rescinding past approvals may be legally fraught. Several council members urged continued outreach to PPL, the Public Utility Commission process and state agencies, and asked staff to collect legal precedents about rescinding tax abatements to inform council’s next vote.