Met-Ed load study process holds up North Cornwall Commons western site

Development of the 55-acre North Cornwall Commons western site has been halted by a long-running Met-Ed load study process, a delay developer Byler Holdings estimates to cost millions of dollars, while a state lawmaker’s office says it’s just one of several projects that have experienced delays linked to the power utility’s infrastructure timelines.

The North Cornwall Commons western site has so far stayed mostly out of the public’s eye, with attention focused on development of the 81-acre eastern site, home to popular establishments like Ancestor Coffeehouse, Mick’s, and Isaac’s, as well as apartments, townhouses, and (soon) two hotels. The western site would be next, if not for power.

A master plan was established for the former farmland along Cornwall Road through a 2010 settlement agreement between North Cornwall Township and developers Springwood Development, who agreed to discontinue litigation over a Walmart at the site. Byler Holdings principal Jonathan Byler bought into the project after the death of original Springwood partner Joseph W. Deerin in 2012 and acquired the rest of the company from the estate of second original partner Richard Welkowitz after his death in 2019.

Read More: Looking out toward the future of North Cornwall Commons: What’s coming next?

As previously reported by LebTown, the western site is expected to be anchored by big-box stores. The list of allowed uses is stipulated in the settlement agreement as follows:

Byler Holdings director of operations Mike Swank told LebTown in an interview earlier this year that there are tenants waiting to sign up until electric can be confirmed at the western site. That can only be done by Met-Ed, the state-regulated utility serving southeast Pennsylvania. Met-Ed is owned by publicly-traded FirstEnergy Corp.

Development blocked by Met-Ed load study

The first step in the application process, called a preliminary or conceptual load study, has been pending with Met-Ed for more than a year now, Swank said.

Swank said Met-Ed will not provide any estimates on the timeline because they don’t know the extent of any upgrades required.

FirstEnergy spokesperson Todd Meyers said that it’s not unusual for developers to want to move ahead as quickly as possible on their projects, however it takes time to plan for, design, and build any necessary electrical infrastructure to serve those developments.

“We have worked with this developer on various projects in North Cornwall Township for more than a decade and we continue to work closely with its project management team on current projects,” said Meyers.

Met-Ed says the minimum timeline for a preliminary load study is 120 business days. A preliminary load study reveals any infrastructure upgrades which may be required to provide power to a project along with an estimated cost. At that point, the developer needs to pay 10% of the estimated cost to proceed to the detailed load study phase, a second period of at least 120 business days, for a more precise cost estimate. The developer must then agree to pay that amount, plus or minus up to 50% depending on actual costs.

Byler Holdings remains in the first part of that timeline, the preliminary load study. Years and millions of dollars could still stand between it and seeing Met-Ed provide power.

Gebhard: Load study delay is ‘consistent issue’

Byler Holdings chief financial officer Bruce Darkes said he has been working with state Senator Chris Gebhard’s office and that Gebhard’s team, in particular district director Dan Bost, are great advocates for economic development. Darkes told LebTown that he wished the governor was putting pressure on the Public Utility Commission to get Met-Ed to act more quickly.

Darkes said that Byler Holdings has sought legal counsel on options with the PUC but he wasn’t able to speak on any potential actions.

PUC wouldn’t comment on the matter, saying only that if a developer has an issue with a utility, they can file a complaint with the commission.

Darkes said he isn’t alone in this situation and other developers are moving more operations out of Pennsylvania where they find it easier to work.

“We’ve been closely following the situation and are certainly concerned by what we’re hearing not just from Byler Holdings, but from multiple developers across the region,” Gebhard (R-48) said in a statement to LebTown.

Read More: Met-Ed says new South Annville Twp. substation to be completed in early 2025

Gebhard’s office said it has been contacted regarding several projects that experienced delays linked to Met-Ed infrastructure timelines, including substation construction, and noted that these delays not only jeopardize the projects themselves but future investment and economic development.

“The delay in completing preliminary and comprehensive load studies has been a consistent issue our office has heard about,” said Gebhard. His office noted that one of Governor Shapiro’s stated goals is to reduce wait times for permit applications.

“We believe the governor should encourage the Public Utility Commission to provide stronger oversight and accountability,” said a spokesperson for Gebhard. “The PUC has a responsibility to ensure that regulated monopolies like Met-Ed are meeting their obligations to serve the public in a fair and timely manner.”

Gebhard said he is an advocate for responsible development but does not believe there should be exorbitant wait times or unnecessary burdens on developers.

“Our office will continue advocating for solutions — legislatively and through agency engagement — that address these delays, improve utility responsiveness, while also advocating for responsible development in the district,” he said.

Met-Ed: Every project comes with different challenges

Met-Ed says it has enough staffing to handle distribution load studies.

“Met-Ed has adequate resources to handle distribution load studies and we will continue to monitor the volume of requests to consider adjust staffing as necessary,” said Meyers.

FirstEnergy has increased hiring in the interconnection group, which includes some engineers who also conduct conceptual and detailed load studies. The company also hired three contract engineers in 2023 to support load studies specifically.

Met-Ed denies that an influx in data center development has had any impact on the length of time it’s taking the company to process distribution applications and load studies. Although data center applications have increased sharply over the last two years, the company says those applications are handled by the transmission group, so the increase of data center applications has not impacted the timeline for for mid-size distribution projects such as North Cornwall Commons.

“Study timelines are often extended in areas with numerous studies in the queue,” said Meyers. “Our customer-facing teams communicate that additional time is needed when there are areas with constraints and multiple projects in a queue.”

Meyers said that connecting new customers to the system is a top priority at FirstEnergy and that there had been multiple discussions with the developer.

“Without getting into confidential information, I can say that every project comes with different challenges,” he said.

Gebhard’s office said it has been working as an intermediary between Met-Ed, the PUC, and developers for the past two years, and the problems persist.

“We would like to see additional resources to accurately meet timelines,” said Gebhard’s office.

Shapiro’s office responds; administration source says backchannel underway

A spokesperson for Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said the Shapiro administration “has been laser focused on significantly reforming Pennsylvania’s permitting process for businesses and cutting the bureaucratic hurdles that led to a back log of requests in order to drive economic development and job creation across the commonwealth.”

Shapiro convened a meeting with all the major Pennsylvania utilities when he took office, the spokesperson said, and urged them to move at the “speed of businesses.”

“Since that time, the governor continues to work with Pennsylvania’s utility companies, encouraging them to reduce barriers to growth, cut through red tape, and quickly adapt to the evolving needs of Pennsylvanians. For its part, the Shapiro administration continues to move quickly and efficiently to process permit applications, get businesses answers, and land major deals that benefit the people of Pennsylvania,” said the spokesperson.

The governor’s office did not answer specific questions from LebTown, such as whether the governor thought the PUC could be providing stronger oversight and accountability. The governor’s office also did not provide details of any policies the governor may have to prevent exorbitant wait times or unnecessary burdens on developers.

Speaking on background under the condition of anonymity, a source familiar with the administration said that the governor was pushing FirstEnergy leadership to devote the necessary resources to address these concerns.

Ripple effects from longer development timelines

Darkes said he’s seen other builders in Berks County, for example, do more projects in the south than in Pennsylvania.

“They have substantial investments here, but more people are moving south because it’s easier to work with,” he said.

Darkes said the costs incurred by Byler Holdings from the delayed load study already run to the millions of dollars.

Despite the high price tag, Darkes said he wouldn’t think twice about the company committing to another large-scale development projects in the area.

“The Byler family is committed to Lebanon and Lancaster,” Darkes said.