Time-Line of the Issue

  • Before 2020 - PECO started working on their 11.5 mile pipeline from the Conshohocken Gate Station to Marple. Rt3 320 was closed periodically, but nobody paid that much attention, and PECO wasn't announcing their plans.
  • 2020 - In the midst of The Covid-19 Pandemic, PECO announced their plans for a Gas Expansion Plant (aka"Reliability Station") at the Corner of Sproul and Cedar Grove Roads.  PECO applied to the Marple Township Zoning Hearing Board for variances  and exceptions, which were denied.
  • 2021 - On February 26, PECO applied to the PA Public Utility Commission for permission to steam-roller over the decision of the Marple Township Zoning Hearing Board. During March and April, sixty-five residents filed to be pro se protestants and/or intervenors. On April 12, the Telephonic PreHearing Conference was held, with twenty-five residents in attendance. On May 25 and May 26, a total of four Telephonic Public Hearings were held, and about 100 residents called in, almost unanimously to voice their concerns about the location of the proposed facility. On December 7, the Initial Decision was published, and, although the PUC decided in PECO's favor, the decision included the following statement:
While we find that the concerns raised by the municipalities and the individual intervenors are valid, and we are not unsympathetic to those concerns, issues related to noise, gas emissions, aesthetics, traffic and other health and safety concerns are beyond the Commission’s review.

  • 2022 - Marple Township appealed the decision to the PA Commonwealth Court, and oral arguments were heard in Pittsburgh on October 12.
  • 2023 - On March 19, a seven member panel of PA Commonwealth Court judges unanimously decided that the PUC had erred in its decision, and remanded the case back to the PUC, with the following instructions:
...that it issue an Amended Decision regarding Intervenor PECO Energy Company’s “Petition...  . . . For a Finding Pursuant to 53 P.S. § 10619,” which must incorporate the results of a constitutionally sound environmental impact review... "
A PreHearing Conference on Wednesday, June 28, 2023, at 9AM established the court's  parameters for what the "constitutionally sound environmental impact review" will look like.  This process is really a pretty big deal, in that the application of an environmental review to a "619 procedure" is a legal precedent in Pennsylvania, and nobody is really sure what this environmental review will entail.  Unfortunately, it seems that this court is going to rely on another round of "dueling experts" similar to the last time we were at the PUC.

The Technical Evidentiary Hearings will be held between Tuesday, November 14 and Friday, November 17, 2023.  These Hearings will be held Telephonically, NOT Hybrid or In-Person. 

To participate in the conference,
  • You must dial the toll-free Conference number below (866.566.0649)
  • You must enter the PIN number below (83345259) when instructed
  • You must speak your name when prompted, and press #
  • Then, the telephone system will connect you to the hearing
Toll-free Conference Number: 866.566.0649
Passcode: 83345259