Argall wants to change law to help Sinking Spring defend against PPL power line

by Steve Reinbrecht

State Sen. David Argall is trying to drum up lawmaking support for two bills that would help Sinking Spring block a 69,000-volt power line from brutally disrupting its renaissance plans.

He posted a Senate “cosponsorship memo” Oct. 4 to solicit support for the two proposals.

Argall expects they will be adopted in time to help the borough, said Jon Hopcraft, Argall’s legislative aide.

“There’s been a ton of investment by the state, the county, the borough,” he said last week. “We don’t want to see it squandered away on account of a transmission line.”

The “proposed transmission line … has outraged the local community as well as hampered major economic development efforts,” Argall wrote in the memo. “My goal is to provide a balanced approach to the needs of the utility while taking into account the wants and needs of the municipality and its residents.”

Argall’s bills would make two changes to Title 66 (Public Utilities). One would add a section requiring that the municipalities approve the plans.

“No transmission line for electricity may be constructed within a municipality unless the governing body of the municipality approves construction of the transmission line according to the criteria established by the municipality.”

The second change would require that the Public Utility Commission conduct public hearing of a proposed transmission line. PPL held a public meeting in Wyomissing on Sept. 22 about its plans for Sinking Spring. Some who attended complained about how it was managed.

“The commission shall conduct a public hearing in the municipality in which a transmission line for electricity is proposed. The public hearing shall provide an opportunity for public comment on the proposal,” the bill says.