Shamokin Dam Borough, Snyder County
Capital Power plans an uprate of about 30 megawatts at Hummel Station, the 1,124 megawatt gas-fired combined-cycle plant in Shamokin Dam Borough, and DEP issued the air plan approval for the turbine upgrades on February 5, 2026.
Hummel Station began commercial operation in 2018, according to Capital Power. On April 14, 2025 Capital Power announced it would buy the 1,124 megawatt plant and Ohio's Rolling Hills plant from LS Power for US$2.2 billion combined, and said it planned a 30 megawatt uprate at Hummel in 2026 and 2027. Hummel Station, LLC applied to DEP for a plan approval for turbine hardware upgrades on May 2, 2025, the same day PJM selected the 32.4 megawatt uprate (project AH1-705, Sunbury 500 kV, Snyder County) in its Reliability Resource Initiative. FERC approved the acquisition June 2, and the deal closed June 9, 2025. In mid-July 2025, PoliticsPA, WKOK and The Daily Item reported that Capital Power valued the Hummel purchase at $1.3 billion, planned to invest more than $3 billion in the plant over 10 years and hoped to partner with data center companies. DEP published its intent to issue the plan approval on December 6, 2025, with comments due January 5, 2026, and issued plan approval 55-00026C on February 5, 2026. The approval notice ran in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on February 28.
DEP approved hardware upgrades to the plant's three natural gas-fired combined-cycle combustion turbines (Source IDs P181 to P183) in February 2026, as Capital Power plans to raise the plant's capacity by about 30 MW. Capital Power says the plant ran at about an 80 percent capacity factor in 2024.
Pennsylvania Bulletin, Vol. 56, No. 9Capital Power reports that PJM capacity prices in Hummel's zone cleared at the caps of US$329 per megawatt-day for 2026/2027 and US$333 for 2027/2028, which it says support the economics of owning the plant. PJM chose the 32.4 MW uprate as one of 51 projects to add capacity quickly as demand grows.
Capital PowerDEP's December 2025 notice says the upgrade adds a new blade design and vane configuration so each of the three turbines pulls more energy from the gas it burns, and it caps each turbine at 64.5 tons of nitrogen oxides and 14.23 tons of volatile organic compounds in any 12 months, or 193.5 and 42.69 tons for the three combined.
Pennsylvania Bulletin, Vol. 55, No. 49The plant employs 30 full-time workers, according to WKOK and PoliticsPA. Capital Power has said it hopes to expand the site and partner with data center companies, which PoliticsPA said could bring construction and operating jobs, but no number or timeline has been given.
WKOKIn Pennsylvania, the local zoning ordinance sets the route. A conditional use is decided by the elected governing body (supervisors, commissioners or council). A special exception or variance, and an appeal of a zoning officer’s decision, go to the Zoning Hearing Board. Each is a public hearing on a record: affected neighbors can ask for party status, cross-examine witnesses, and appeal. Municipalities can also adopt data center ordinances with enforceable standards.
Know your rights →Organized community opposition is the single most effective check on these projects in Pennsylvania. Show up to hearings, submit comment when it is taken, support legal and expert-witness costs, and press your municipality for a real ordinance. Pennsylvania municipalities cannot simply freeze applications, but a curative amendment under the Planning Code gives them a defined window to fix a defective ordinance.
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