DEP Citizens Advisory Council Meets Jan. 14 On Data Centers, Three Mile Island Unit 2 Nuclear Plant Decommissioning, Abandoned Mine Land Reforestation

On the agenda for the January 14 meeting of the DEP Citizens Advisory Council are presentations on the development of data centers, Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant Unit 2 decommissioning and abandoned mine land reforestation.

The Council will also hear an update on agency activities from Acting DEP Secretary Jessica Shirley.

Data Centers

Commissioner Kim belly Barrow, Vice Chair of the Public Utility Commission will provide a presentation to Council on the impact of data center development on electricity demands and the grid in Pennsylvania and the region.

The PUC held a technical conference on November 25 on the adequacy of electricity supplies in Pennsylvania, including the growing electricity demand from the development of data centers.

The PUC has a deadline of January 9 to submit follow-up comments on the issue to help the Commission identify issues and actions it can take to address supply and grid issues.

Click Here for more information.

TMI Unit 2 Decommissioning

The damaged Unit 2 nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island in Dauphin County is being decommissioned by TMI-2 Solutions, an Energy Solutions company.

The decommissioning is unrelated to the proposed restart of TMI Unit 1 to supply power to Microsoft data centers.

Joseph Lynch, Energy Solutions, will provide the presentation on the status of decommissioning activities.

Reforestation

Erie Oliver, mine Land Reforestation Specialist with the Green Forests Work, will provide an overview of reforestation initiatives.

Click Here for more background.

Public Comments

Individuals interested in providing public comment during the meeting must sign up 24-hours in advance of the meeting by contacting Ian Irvin at iirvin@pa.gov.  

Commenters are asked to limit comments to 5 minutes to accommodate other commenters and the rest of the agenda. 

Click Here for more information on providing comments.

Join The Meeting

The meeting will be held in Room 105 of the Rachel Carson Building starting at 12:30 p.m.  Click Here for options on joining the meeting via Microsoft Teams and by telephone.

For available handouts and more information on the meeting, visit the DEP Citizens Advisory Council webpage.  [To view the entire page, extend page to right.] Questions should be directed to Ian Irvin, Executive Director, iirvin@pa.gov or (717) 787-8171.

[Posted: January 5, 2025]  PA Environment Digest