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Contested

Essential Energy Gas Power Plant (former Highway Auto salvage yard, Archbald)

Archbald Borough, Lackawanna County

Essential Energy, LLC wants to replace a former junkyard on Eynon Jermyn Road with a gas-fired power plant of about 400 megawatts next to Staback Park. Archbald Borough Council has held at least five conditional use hearings, and residents and the school district are fighting it.

ContestedLargeGreenfield GasBrownfieldNEPA
At a glance

The project by the numbers

StatusUnder Review
Capacity400 MW
Site15 acres
First announced2026-03

400-megawatt gas plant proposed across the road from Archbald's Project Boson

The number that mattersAsked whether he would live 850 feet from the plant, the company's noise expert answered, "I've lived in some areas right along some main streets," which drew groans from the crowd, 28/22 News reported.
Developer
Essential Energy, LLC, with PDC Realty, LLC as property owner, both listing 805 Enterprise Street in Dickson City. Stop Archbald Data Centers says the plant comes from the same developer as Project Boson and names Jim Marzolino of Kriger Construction, which DEP lists as Boson's developer. Attorney Michael Mey of Mey & Sulla represents the applicant and attorney Frank Tunis presented the sketch plan; KCI Technologies is the engineer, Centec's James D. Barnes did the noise study and consultant Randall Holmes testified on power demand.
Tenant
No buyer for the power has been named. The developer says electricity would be sold on the open market through PJM, and 28/22 News reported the plant could be used to power data centers.
Current stage
Conditional use hearings before Archbald Borough Council began April 27, 2026 and continued May 21, June 22, July 21 and August 18, and the borough's page shows the sixth hearing on September 29 was continued to a seventh on October 27, 2026. We couldn't find a news report on the September 29 session or whether testimony is close to finished. The Planning Commission declined to give advisory comments in May 2026 because the application lacked information, and a sketch plan has been listed since April. No DEP air permit application has been reported.
Decision body
Archbald Borough Council decides the conditional use application and has 45 days to rule after the hearings close. The Planning Commission reviews any land development plan, and DEP would review the air permit (plan approval and operating permit), stormwater and stream crossing permits listed in the application.
Top issues
air pollution and greenhouse gases from four turbines running around the clock; noise near homes, a park and schools; whether the application is valid since the company didn't exist when it filed; missing air modeling, final equipment and site plans; old mine workings under the site; traffic on the only road into the Highlands; cumulative impacts with nearby data centers
Key opponents
Stop Archbald Data Centers, whose co-founder Tamara Misewicz-Healey has questioned the applicant's witnesses; the Valley View School District, which has party status; and residents represented by attorney Justin Richards, who argues the application is void. Council President Lou Rapoch and Councilman Joseph Altier III have pressed the applicant's experts at the hearings.
Key supporters
No organized local support has been reported. The applicant's consultant Randall Holmes argued that electricity demand is growing faster than the grid can supply it, and KCI Technologies called the site environmentally responsible because gas generation would replace a salvage yard.

How we got here

Essential Energy filed a zoning permit application on March 12, 2026, and Stop Archbald Data Centers says the company was registered with the state the next day. On March 18 Borough Council voted to draft an amendment removing electric generating plants as a permitted use in the I-2 district, and on March 26 the borough received the conditional use application. Attorney Frank Tunis presented a sketch plan to the Planning Commission on April 1, and an updated site plan arrived April 23. Council held the first hearing on April 27, and on May 7 the Planning Commission voted not to comment because the applicant hadn't provided enough information. At the May 21 hearing, Stop Archbald says, the emissions witness acknowledged no air dispersion modeling had been done. Council hired J. Michael Spencer Acoustics on June 17 to advise it, and on June 22 the noise expert testified (Stop Archbald says he predicted 43 decibels at the nearest home against a 45-decibel nighttime limit) and residents' attorney argued the application was a legal nullity. A 92-page safety report presented July 21 repeatedly referred to a data center, and the hearings continued August 18, with a sixth session scheduled for September 29, 2026.

Update, October 26, 2026. As of October 26, 2026, Archbald's conditional use page shows the sixth Essential Energy hearing on September 29, 2026 was continued to a seventh hearing on October 27, 2026 at 5 p.m. in the Valley View High School auditorium.

What is at stake

Impacts raised and open questions

Air quality

High

An air quality expert testified that the plant's four turbines, running around the clock, would emit an estimated 28 billion pounds of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide a year, 28/22 News reported.

28/22 News (WBRE/WYOU)

Noise and vibration

High

The applicant's seven-page noise study predicted the plant would meet borough limits day and night, but its author acknowledged equipment hadn't been chosen, placement was unknown and no baseline measurements were taken in nearby neighborhoods.

FOX56 (WOLF)

Public safety

Medium

The site is former mining land, and KCI's engineer said past mining would need investigating but called the site suitable despite having no final engineering plans; his safety report repeatedly described a data center instead of a gas plant.

FOX56 (WOLF)

Traffic

Medium

The traffic study had no construction traffic analysis for a 6 to 18 month build on Eynon Jermyn Road, which is the only access to the Highlands neighborhood, according to Stop Archbald.

Stop Archbald Data Centers

Energy costs and the grid

Medium

Developers told council they can't guarantee lower local electricity costs because the plant's power would be sold on the open market in PJM.

FOX56 (WOLF)

Jobs and tax claims

Low

The application says the plant would employ about as many people as the salvage yard, which it puts at fewer than 30.

Archbald Borough
Community response

Who is organizing against it

Stop Archbald Data Centers

Archbald Borough and neighboring Mid Valley communities

Leaders: Tamara Misewicz-Healey (co-founder)

Tactics: Tracks every Essential Energy hearing on its project page, cross-examines the applicant's witnesses and raised money for its legal fund with the Stand Strong 5k at Staback Park in October 2026.

28/22 News describes the group as opposing large-scale data center and power plant development in the borough.

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Timeline

How it has unfolded

  • 2026-03-12Essential Energy filed a zoning permit application for an electric power generating plant at 1000 Main Street. Archbald Borough
  • 2026-03-18Council voted to have staff draft an amendment removing electric generating plants as a permitted use in the I-2 district. Archbald Borough
  • 2026-03-26The borough received Essential Energy's conditional use application for a plant of about 400 megawatts. Archbald Borough
  • 2026-04-01Attorney Frank Tunis presented the plant's sketch plan to the Planning Commission. Archbald Borough
  • 2026-04-27Council held the first conditional use hearing on the plant. FOX56 (WOLF)
  • 2026-05-07The Planning Commission voted not to give advisory comments because the applicant provided too little information. Archbald Borough
  • 2026-05-21The second hearing covered traffic and emissions testimony. 28/22 News (WBRE/WYOU)
  • 2026-06-17Council ratified hiring J. Michael Spencer Acoustics to advise the borough in the Essential Energy hearing. Archbald Borough
  • 2026-06-22The third hearing focused on the noise study, and residents' attorney argued the application was void. FOX56 (WOLF)
  • 2026-07-21The fourth hearing centered on a 92-page safety report delivered minutes before testimony. FOX56 (WOLF)
  • 2026-08-18The fifth hearing continued the safety testimony and was adjourned before cross-examination could begin. WILK Newsradio (Audacy)
  • 2026-09-29The borough scheduled a sixth hearing at Valley View High School. Archbald Borough
Legal record

Filings and legal actions

  • 2026-05-21
    Objection to the applicant's standing, placed on the hearing record Archbald Borough Council (conditional use hearing) · n/a

    Objectors argue the application is a legal nullity because Essential Energy, LLC was registered with the state on March 13, 2026, one day after the zoning permit application was filed in its name. Stop Archbald says the objection was raised May 21, and FOX56 reported Richards argued it on the record June 22.

    Residents represented by attorney Justin Richards; Essential Energy, LLC · Pending; council hasn't ruled publicly
News

Coverage of this project

Sources

Know your rights

In 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 →

Take action

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.

How communities push back →