<aside> 🟡
STATUS: Active | New date for the informational session rescheduled for 4/21/2026
Last updated: 4/9/2026
</aside>
The wave of proposed data center development in our area isn't just changing the landscape on the ground but also triggering a massive overhaul of the regional power grid. PPL Electric Utilities has announced two interconnected transmission projects in Lackawanna County that exist, by their own description, to support the load growth driven by new large-scale customer facilities.
The first, the Archbald Mountain Transmission Project, involves constructing a new 500/230 kV substation in Archbald Borough, a new 230 kV switchyard in Winton, and approximately eight miles of new high voltage transmission lines cutting through Lackawanna County. The steel monopole structures carrying those lines are expected to range from 120 to 150 feet tall.
The second, the Callender Gap & Sturges Transmission Project, adds two more 230 kV switchyards in Archbald Borough and roughly four miles of additional transmission lines explicitly described as connected to the Archbald Mountain project.
Together, these projects represent a fundamental rewiring of the power infrastructure serving our communities. Construction is anticipated to run from 2027 through 2030, pending approval from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.
PPL had scheduled a community information session for March 31, 2026 at the Throop Community Civic Center. That session has since been postponed, with no rescheduled date announced. Questions and comments can currently be submitted directly to PPL at [email protected].
The connection is worth stating plainly: this grid infrastructure isn't being built for existing homes and businesses. It's being built to power the data centers being proposed for our ridges, woodlands, and neighborhoods. Our community is being asked to absorb not just the developments themselves but all of the industrial infrastructure required to feed them.