Franklin County Commissioners Applaud Commonwealth Court’s Order Affirming PUC’s Transource Project Denial

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. – The Franklin County Commissioners announced today that they have received an opinion and order of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court that affirms the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s (PUC) denial of an application made by Transource Pennsylvania LLC to site and construct the “Independence Energy Connection Project” in portions of Franklin and York counties. The Court’s opinion and order came after a lengthy litigation battle involving evidentiary hearings and many legal filings.

“We are pleased that the Commonwealth Court denied the Transource appeal,” said Commissioner Chairman Dave Keller. “This project offered no benefits for Franklin County residents or Pennsylvanians generally. It was to be a path to export Pennsylvania’s less expensive power to out-of-state consumers. The Commonwealth Court thoroughly reviewed the parties’ position and held that the PUC was correct to deny the project application.”

Commissioner Bob Ziobrowski added, “The opinion and order shows that our involvement returned value to the residents of Franklin County. Our efforts provided the County residents with a great result.”

The commissioners engaged the law firm of Salzmann Hughes, P.C. to actively participate and represent Franklin County in the proceedings and appeal.

“We were pleased to have been called upon to represent the county in this important case,” said G. Bryan Salzmann, Esq. “The Franklin County Commissioners supported our efforts in this case, which presented only a narrow opportunity for victory. My partner Scott Wyland and his team coordinated with leaders of Stop Transource Franklin County, whose combined efforts proved invaluable to meaningful opposition to this project throughout the intense administrative litigation and appeal. Stop Transource Franklin County’s effective leaders made a big difference in how thoroughly and effectively the case was presented. We share the County Commissioners’ pleasure with the outcome – an extremely unusual, if not unique outcome in this type of case.”

Commissioner John Flannery echoed the comments of the other board members.

“We committed to opposing this project because we recognized it offered no benefits for the community but asked our residents to suffer the burdens of it just the same,” said Flannery. “When we know we are in the right, it makes taking on this type of effort worthwhile. The Commonwealth Court confirmed that we made a decision that is the right one for Franklin County and for the Commonwealth. We did the right thing in this case and the citizens of the county will enjoy the valuable benefit.”

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