Have you heard about the Shermans Dale Energy Center??
The Shermans Dale Energy Center, brought to you by Invitium Energy, LLC, PPL Corporation, and Blackstone, is a 1,500 MW natural gas-fired power plant that will power an attached data center in Shermans Dale, PA and provide electricity to PAX1 and the PJM grid. It will be located between the Texas Eastern transfer station on Texas Eastern Road and will extend to Windy Hill Rd, consuming 147 acres formerly known as Wessel's property. The distance to neighboring properties, including the trailer park?? A mere 400 feet. In walking distance that is, for most adults, 160 steps or about 2 minutes of walking. They propose to use Shermans Creek to cool the power plant, anyone who has tried to kayak Shermans Creek recently knows how ridiculous this concept is.
They also propose to discharge 344.48 tons per year of NOx (In atmospheric chemistry, NOx is shorthand for nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), the nitrogen oxides that are most relevant for air pollution. These gases contribute to the formation of smog and acid rain, as well as affecting tropospheric ozone. There is strong evidence that NOx respiratory exposure can trigger and exacerbate existing asthma symptoms, and may even lead to the development of asthma over longer periods of time. It has also been associated with heart disease, diabetes, birth outcomes, and all-cause mortality.) The pollution doesn't stop there, however, as they also propose to discharge 299.56 tons per year (TPY) of carbon monoxide, 16.63 TPY hexane, 119.12 TPY volatile organic compounds (Known as the high-priority air pollutants in the atmosphere, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a dominated precursor of secondary organic aerosols (SOAs), leading to complex PM2.5 and O3 pollution and severe risks to human health.), 70.54 TPY sulfur dioxide, 50.80+ TPY sulfuric acid mist, 36.66 TPY total hazardous air pollutants, and 5,739,261 TPY greenhouse gases/CO2e. The application states that it will be a major source of pollution, exceeding both major source thresholds for hazardous air pollutants. Clearly a violation of the Pennsylvania Constitution Article One, Section 27. Plan approval proposes NOx Emission Reduction Credits from the shutdown of Ledvance Wellsboro Plant. (Carbon credits - they are paying to pollute the air instead of installing scrubbers to clean pollution from the air.)
As if the above isn't enough, they're throwing in two 60,000 gallon aqueous ammonia tanks, two diesel emergency generators, and a diesel fire-water pump just for good measure. (Ammonia is a colorless gas with a pungent, suffocating odor. Symptoms of exposure are irritation eyes, nose, throat; dyspnea (breathing difficulty), wheezing, chest pain; pulmonary edema; pink frothy sputum; vesiculation (causing fluid filled blisters), and skin burns.)
Public comments are due September 14, 2026. Please reference Plan Approval 50-05005B and Authorization ID 1579127
SUBMIT EMAIL TO: Thomas Bianca, West Permit Section Chief at tbianca@pa.gov.
