Infrastructure

Site Selection Assistance

Focus Central Pennsylvania is a resource to assist project teams in understanding infrastructure for site development in Central Pennsylvania. This involves evaluating whether a property has transportation access, utility capacity, and public services needed to support a proposed industrial or commercial project.

Because infrastructure is site specific having one or two short listed sites is required to provide the most accurate and responsive information for a project team. In addition to having the site address or GPS coordinates, having the information below is required:

Pennsylvania is a deregulated energy state, meaning you have the right to choose the supplier that generates your electricity and natural gas. While the local utility still delivers the energy and maintains the power lines, you can shop around for competitive supply rates, fixed-term contracts, or green energy plans. There is a Price to Compare provided that is updated quarterly but, in most cases, especially for larger users, these rates can be much lower if you competitively shop for suppliers. PPL Price to Compare and Shopping

Pennsylvania operates within PJM Interconnection, the largest regional transmission organization in North America, covering 13 states and D.C. Within the state, several Electric Distribution Companies (EDCs) handle the physical delivery of your power:

PECO Energy — Serving the greater Philadelphia area and southeastern PA
PPL Electric Utilities — Serving central and eastern PA including Allentown, Harrisburg, and Scranton
Duquesne Light — Serving the greater Pittsburgh area
West Penn Power (FirstEnergy) — Serving western and north-central PA
Met-Ed and Penelec (FirstEnergy) — Serving portions of eastern and northern PA

The Focus Central PA Region is served by both West Penn Power (FirstEnergy) and PPL Electric Utilities to provide the transmission and distribution of electricity.

Pennsylvania is a deregulated state which allows consumers to choose their electric and natural gas generator supplier based on their needs and budgets. The infrastructure to distribute energy is provided by utility partners included FirstEnergy, PPL Electric Utilities and Citizens' Electric regulated by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC). The average Pennsylvania commercial electricity rate is 11.25 ¢/kWh (13% lower than the national average).

Electric Service

Requested voltage level of primary service: 69kV, 138 kV or 230 kV
Peak load (MVA) & Power Factor (%)
Operational hours needing peak electric load capacity
Single or double circuit source requested
In Service date requested/project timeline

Electric Infrastructure Powering Industry in Pennsylvania

Deregulation: Pennsylvania became a deregulated state in the energy market in 2000. This is good news for consumers, especially industrial because they can shop competitively for their supplier. Deregulation helped to reduce electric and natural gas costs by allowing consumers to competitively shop for suppliers. Larger electric users can be eligible for lower rates. Pennsylvania is one of the most successful places in both the United States and Canada to have transitioned to a deregulated energy market.

Learn more about deregulation at The Ultimate Guide to Pennsylvania Electricity Deregulation.

Electric Distribution Territories: The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission regulates 11 electric distribution companies that serve homes and businesses across the state. The PUC also issues licensing to various electric generation suppliers that sell services in the competitive market.

Electricity Rates: A review of current LP5 (large power users) customers rates can provide a good perspective on costs and can range between 6 to 8¢/kWh, some as low as 4¢/kWh. Industry and consumers can contract with energy management and brokerage firms that provide insight and advice customized based on a projects needs to get the best overall value. There are many factors that go into industrial electric and natural gas pricing including type of energy (renewable, etc.) purchase date, terms, type of rates (restrictions or variables), etc. The most accurate way to provide projected pricing is to review usage history of similar sized facilities and compare that with available suppliers, terms and rates.

Electric utilities are required to provide a Price to Compare. There are two sections to the electric bill. There's a supply section which includes generation and transmission charges and then there's the distribution section which are the Electric Utility charges. Electric utilities encourages all customers to shop for a supplier for the supply section of the bill at www.papowerswitch.com. EnergyBot using EIA data shows the average Pennsylvania commercial electricity rate at 11.05 ¢/kWh (10% lower than the national average). If a company does not shop for generation and transmission, they will be placed on Real Time Pricing which is the hourly wholesale price of generation on the PJM system. sometimes there is a better rate on Real time pricing, but then it is subjected to swings based on supply and demand. Click here for a historical price data. PPL's distribution charges are based on the size of service requested. LP5 service is 69kV service, PPL would provide customer with a service drop to the company's own step-down substation. All of this would be determined by the amount of load the customer would consume. Normally, anything larger than 8-10 MW would require LP5 (69kV) service, otherwise they can utilize distribution level service which is faster and cheaper to access.

Large Power Requirement Projects: PPL Electric Utilities, serving eastern and central Pennsylvania, has available transmission capacity at all voltage levels, from 69 kV to 500 kV. PPL Electric has superior reliability, industry-leading innovation and award-winning customer services. Transmission is the backbone of the electric grid. Since 2013, PPL Electric has invested in upgrades and innovation to provide a safe, reliable, affordable and sustainable source of power for smart economic growth.

Natural gas utilities in Central PA UGI Utilities and Columbia Gas continue to invest millions of dollars in infrastructure upgrades to support growth. The SEDA-COG Natural Gas Co-Op provides options for LNG and CNG for areas not served with current infrastructure. Pennsylvania is the nation's second-largest natural gas producer. Central PA is home to a portion of the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline Project, a $3 billion investment to increase capacity of the Transco pipeline, the largest-volume natural gas pipeline system in the United States.

Hourly connected load and desired delivery pressure

Rail access and service is a leading comparative advantage for industry in Central PA! A unique regional rail partnership, SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority (JRA) allows for industry focused investment, planning, infrastructure and service in the region. Over 200 miles of rail lines in the region are supported by award winning short line operator North Shore Railroad Company & Affiliates to main lines Norfolk Southern and Canadian Pacific.

Is on site, spur required (indoor/outdoor)
Approximate number of rail cars inbound, and what type of cars
Approximate number of rail cars outbound, and what type of cars

Central PA has a significant supply of water from various sources. Major water providers in the region include Pennsylvania American Water and Aqua Pennsylvania that invest millions of dollars annually for quality, reliable infrastructure and systems. Other notable sources are local water authorities including the Bellefonte Water Authority utilizing a natural spring, Big Spring, that produces 15 million gallons of water daily. Industry and Agriculture also utilize the Susquehanna River with an average daily rush of 22 billion gallons of water.

Gallons Per Day
Fire Suppression Pressure

Wastewater services are provided by private or local authorities and in some cases private on-site wastewater treatment facilities. The Milton Regional Sewer Authority has a total of 4.25 million gallons per day (GPD) capacity for high strength waste/food; the Sunbury Municipal Authority%2520per%2520day.) is designed to handle a flow of 4.2 million gallons per day (MGD); and the University Area Joint Authority servicing the State College area in Centre County, PA with wastewater and wastewater recycling has more than 4 million gallons per day (GPD) capacity and proudly operates an award winning biosolids composting facility.

Wastewater Discharge Gallons Per Day
What is the make-up of wastewater
Any plans to pretreat wastewater

Major interstates and highways serving the region are Interstate 99, Interstate 80, and Interstate 81; US Route 522/22; US Route 322/22; US Route 220; and US Route 11/15; as well as many State Routes. The region is served by PennDOT District 2 and District 3 where billions of dollars in improvement projects are taking place including the historical Central Susquehanna Valley Transportation project, over a billion dollar investment, constructing a new four lane limited access highway in Central PA. PennDOT Truck Route Map (PDF.

PenTeleData Map

PenTeleData, has a fully redundant network that has more than 60 Points of Presence served on 10,000+ miles of fiber optics throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey delivering Voice, Video, Data, and Internet services. Local internet providers include Service Electric.

Broadband and Telecommunications