New version of controversial Cuffs Run pumped storage plant proposed along Susquehanna

Ted Evgeniadis has seen this movie before.

He remembers it well, as it was one of the first large-scale efforts the Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper was involved with: opposing a proposal to build a new hydroelectric generating facility along the river, near Lake Clarke.

The proposal was to build a 1,000-acre facility on the bluff on the western bank of the river in Chanceford Township. Water would be pumped from Lake Clarke to fill a reservoir, and then it would be released downhill to power turbines to generate electricity.

“We were successful back then (in stopping the project),” Evgeniadis said. “We’re definitely going to be involved now.”

Killing the Chesapeake:PA's polluted Susquehanna River is poisoning the bay. What can be done

More on the Susquehanna:Deadline set for Harrisburg to stop flushing raw sewage into the Susquehanna

The project has been proposed three times, perhaps four. It was first proposed in the 1990s with two separate companies filing proposals for the project with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. And then it was revived by yet another Boston-based company in 2011.

Each time, it was met with opposition from residents of the area. And each time, the proposal did not get farther than being just on paper.

Now, a Reading-based company called York Energy Storage is proposing the project again. The company has applied to FERC for approval to conduct a feasibility study of what would be a $2.1 billion project.

One of the partners in the company, William McMahon, founder of the Entech Engineering power systems engineering company in Reading, was president of the company that had first proposed the project in the 1990s, when it was referred to as Cuffs Run.

At that time, he said, it was determined that “the economics didn’t favor” the project. Things have changed, he said. The generating facility is intended to act as storage for energy – in the form of water – that can be tapped when power is not being generated by wind or solar installations.

Solar and wind generation is “unreliable,” McMahon said. “They don’t work when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow.”

He said, “Our main purpose is to do the best thing that can be done for the grid, and we think this is the best option.”

The concept is called “pumped storage.” Water is pumped uphill to a reservoir when surplus power generated during peak periods is available. The water is then used to generate electricity when there is a power deficit. A similar facility, Muddy Run Pumped Storage Facility, is across the river in Lancaster County.

The proposal calls for creating a 580-acre reservoir atop the bluff at Cuffs Run, 680 feet above the surface of Lake Clarke, by constructing a 225-foot-high dam and two smaller dikes, according to the application filed with FERC. The project is expected to generate up to 8,560 megawatt-hours over a 10-hour cycle. That’s enough to power a city of half a million people.

A consulting firm in Chicago, McMahon said, determined that Cuffs Run “is the best site in the eastern United States for pumped storage.”

Hydroelectric power is considered clean energy, but generating stations often attract strong opposition from environmentalists and residents because of their disruptive nature.

Dave Imhoff, whose family lives on a seven-acre farmette that would be flooded by the reservoir, said, "Now, it's time to get together with the people who were involved before and start over again."

While he has a vested interest in opposing the project - his family has lived on the land for 40 years - Imhoff said, "The big thing is it really doesn't make any sense." He said the generating facility would use more energy than it generates. "Pushing a wheelbarrow up a hill takes a lot more energy that letting it roll downhill," Imhoff said. "It's a loser, environmentally and economically."

Evgeniadis said, “We’re talking about 1,000 acres. People’s homes would be displaced. Prime farmland would be lost.”

McMahon understands that.

“I certainly can’t blame people,” he said. “People don’t like disruption. They don’t like to move. There is no way we can get around it other than to be as nice to the people as we can possibly be.”

The project is in its very preliminary stages right now. McMahon said FERC hasn’t even accepted York Energy Storage’s proposal yet. Once the proposal moves forward, he said, the company plans to meet with local government officials at some point. “We intend to brief public officials on the bad and the good,” he said. “We think there’s going to be a lot more good than bad.”

The project, according to the proposal, “will not affect the water resources in the area.” Nor will it affect water quality in Lake Clarke or the Susquehanna. The proposal does state that it has “the potential of affecting fish populations” in Lake Clarke. The company pledged to study that “with the intent of minimizing any conflicts,” according to the proposal.

The project also has economic benefits. According to the proposal, it will create 300 jobs during construction and 25 permanent jobs for the 50-year-plus life of the facility. It will also “generate significant property and business taxes” for state, county and local governments and create “recreational opportunities” for picnicking, hiking and fishing, the proposal states.

A spokesperson for Chanceford Township said the township has not seen the proposal and therefore had no comment on it.

Columnist/reporter Mike Argento has been a York Daily Record staffer since 1982. Reach him at mike@ydr.com.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: A Reading-based company has revived plans for the Cuffs Run project