Protect Cuffs Run
Protect Cuffs Run
Susquehanna National Heritage Area is working diligently to oppose the proposed hydroelectric facility along the Susquehanna River at Cuffs Run. The Reading-based York Energy Storage, LLC submitted a Preliminary Permit application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). In March of 2023, our organization took official action in opposition to the project. Since then, SNHA worked in collaboration with our partners to stop the project that would flood nearly 600 acres of land along the Susquehanna River rich with natural, cultural, and recreational resources. Now is the time to defend our river, and we ask you to join us in protecting Cuffs Run. Comments and motions to intervene can be filed through March 31, 2024 to FERC and our partners at the Lancaster Conservancy have created an easy guide on how to submit your comments.
This is the fourth attempt to advance this type of project at this location. Previous efforts in 1970s, 1990 and 2011 were withdrawn after local opposition, including by Susquehanna National Heritage Area (SNHA) in 2011. The revived project is as concerning as previous proposals, especially after 20+ years of federal, state, and local investment in land conservation, recreation, and heritage and outdoor tourism along this part of the river. This includes major initiatives by the National Park Service, PA Department of Conservation & Natural Resources (DCNR), SNHA, Lancaster Conservancy, Farm & Natural Lands Trust, Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper, Lancaster and York Counties, local municipalities, and others.
The Susquehanna Riverlands of York and Lancaster counties are a conservation landscape now, not a development landscape. The future for this area is heritage tourism, outdoor recreation, river town revitalization, and small business development, not massive, man-made impoundments that flood woodlands, farms, homes, hiking trails, and historic landscapes to generate power that uses more energy than it produces simply for higher corporate profits, and then sends it out of state with little value to Pennsylvanians.
The project will produce fewer permanent jobs than the local heritage and conservation groups have already created in just a few years. Imagine if the $2.5 billion proposed for this project was instead invested in more land protection, historic preservation, parks, trails, and community revitalization efforts. That would be true sustainable economic development and make our area an even more desirable place to live, work, and play than it already is.
We are asking you now to raise your voice and send your comment to FERC before it’s too late.