DICKSON CITY — With a power plant proposed less than 1,000 feet from his Bell Mountain home, Tim Pfleiderer had a simple question Wednesday night for a longtime power industry executive.
“Would you, with your experience, want that plant in your backyard?” the borough resident asked.
“Yes,” replied Randall Holmes, a fact witness for Dickson City Power, the Archbald-based companies tied to Kriger Construction looking to build three natural gas power plants on Bell Mountain.
The crowd laughed and jeered at the response.
About three dozen residents attended a zoning hearing in the Dickson City Borough Building to as the zoning hearing board considers special exceptions for three natural gas power plants on Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)
About three dozen people sat through a 3½-hour zoning hearing Wednesday as Dickson City Power representatives presented their plans. The proposed power plants would produce a total of 600 megawatts on the mountainside above Business Route 6. By comparison, the Lackawanna Energy Center natural gas power plant in Jessup produces 1,485 megawatts.
Dickson City Power One, Dickson City Power Two and Dickson City Power Three seek special exceptions from the Dickson City Zoning Hearing Board to build on Bell Mountain. The zoning hearing board recently denied appeals from another Kriger-affiliated firm, Dickson City Development LLC, that challenged Dickson City’s data center zoning and sought to build four data centers near the proposed power plants.
The Bell Mountain proposals mirror the developer’s plans in Archbald, where companies tied to Kriger Construction and its executive leadership propose a nearly 620,000-square-foot Project Boson data center on Eynon Jermyn Road, with a 400-megawatt Essential Energy LLC natural gas power plant across the street.
Wednesday’s hearing included testimony from David Stiles, the vice president of Kriger Construction and its related entities, who spoke about the company background and overall site. Holmes provided a general overview of the project. Dickson City Power attorney Frank Hoegen of Hoegen & Associates in Wilkes-Barre guided the testimony.
The hearing did not conclude with a decision. Testimony will continue next month.
Dickson City Power’s fact witness Randall Holmes, right, answers a question during a zoning hearing in the Dickson City Borough Building to consider special exceptions for three natural gas power plants on Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY / STAFF PHOTO)
‘Don’t have any arrangements’
During his testimony, Holmes cited 50 years of experience in the industry, including 33 years as an executive in the power development business and developing facilities in the United States and internationally.
The Dickson City power plants would use natural gas combined-cycle turbines, which burn natural gas to spin a turbine to generate electricity and then use the excess heat to boil water into steam, spinning another turbine for more power.
However, Holmes said that, so far, it is unclear whether the site has enough pipeline capacity for natural gas to power the plants.
“Anticipating that we may need to resolve that issue, we are currently in discussions with potential gas suppliers about how to address that issue,” Holmes said.
In cross-examination from Dickson City Solicitor Bill Jones, Holmes said they do not have a letter from UGI committing to supply the site with gas.
Jones asked if they would seek alternative energy sources if UGI couldn’t supply them.
Holmes said natural gas turbines are the only thing that will work at the location, confirming the power plants would only use the fossil fuel.
The power executive attributed the site selection to the special exception zoning and the high-voltage PPL power lines spanning Bell Mountain. Data center projects throughout the valley have similarly followed those power lines.
Jones directly asked Holmes whether their power plants could fuel data centers.
“Will this be sold to, say, to a single user?” the borough solicitor asked. “Say, to a data center? Or is this intended to be sold on grid?”
In can be sold on the grid, or the power plant can contract with an end user, Holmes said.
“That end user can be a utility,” Holmes said. “In theory, it could be a data center. … There’s all sorts of conventional contractual arrangements that could be possible here, none of which is contemplated. We don’t have any arrangements with any of that yet.”
The typical lifespan for a power plant is 20 to 30 years, though turbines need to be replaced or refurbished every five to 10 years, Holmes said.
‘That’s my backyard’
Half a dozen borough residents obtained party status to the hearing Wednesday night, granting them ability to cross-examine Dickson City Power’s witnesses.
Pfleiderer, who lives on McLean Street on Bell Mountain, pointed to a large site plan and said, “That’s my backyard, right there at the power plant.”
He cited his own experience working in the electrical industry for 45-plus years, including several years at a nuclear power plant.
He questioned Holmes about the effects of noise and emissions for those living nearby, asking if the sound would be annoying from 250 feet away.
Holmes said it would not.
Pfleiderer asked the same about pollution.
“Is that annoying to maybe a residence that might be right next to it?” Pfleiderer said.
“It could be, I assume. I don’t know the resident,” Holmes said. “I don’t know the equipment. I don’t know the emissions.”
Thomas Lashinski wondered how the plants would benefit residents.
Holmes said the additional generating capacity would support the local grid, which helps avoid transmission constraints “in a time of crisis” if there’s a power shortage.
“If those constraints exist, the existence of this power plant operating in this little area to support the grid here could be viewed as a benefit to the residents of Dickson City,” Holmes said.
Lashinski followed up to ask what happens if they sell exclusively to a private entity.
“They have the ability to do that,” Holmes said.
Bell Mountain resident Wendy Jones inquired about the developer’s previous experience building power plants. Holmes described the developer as a single limited liability company that has not done anything since it formed in December, without addressing the background of its parent company.
Sheila Carluccio asked Holmes whether emissions would be harmful.
“In theory, an emission can be harmful. That’s why the air permit is in place,” Holmes said. “Yes, the emissions are there. We have to get air permits to deal with them, and we’ll do whatever is necessary that the legal requirements are to meet the health and safety standards.”
Jones challenged the project’s standing because of agreements executed Wednesday authorizing Dickson City Power to represent the current property owners, despite the developer applying for the power plants in March.
Hoegen defended the authorization forms, arguing they were signed June 8, retroactive to Dec. 16.
“Doesn’t mean you had it at the time it got filed with this board, with this community,” Jones said. “This issue will never go away.”
About the projects
The power plants are proposed across three properties:
Directly behind the former Kmart that is now storage units at 1011 Business Route 6, Dickson City Power Three applied for a 100-megawatt power plant on land currently owned by Mountainview DC Realty LLC, 859 Enterprise St., Dickson City. Alfred Kriger Jr., who is Kriger Construction President Jim Marzolino’s uncle, is the president of Mountainview.
Moving east, Dickson City Power One’s power plant, the largest of the proposals, would generate 400 megawatts above Cold Spring Road on land owned by Fore Up Realty LLC, which Stiles testified is a subsidiary of his companies. Plans also show a 20.6-acre substation directly above the power plant.
Jones questioned Stiles about the infrastructure. Stiles said they believe PPL “might use that” for a substation. PPL has plans for a comprehensive Midvalley-based infrastructure project involving 12 miles of new high-voltage power lines, three switchyards and a substation, but none of that infrastructure has been publicly proposed for Dickson City.
The easternmost power plant, from Dickson City Power Two, would generate 100 megawatts above the Circle Drive-In on land currently owned by Scranton Circle Drive In Company Inc., 11 Hendrick Lane, Carbondale.
What’s next?
The board will reconvene July 22 at 6 p.m. in the Borough Building, 901 Enterprise St.
Dickson City Power plans to present additional witnesses addressing emissions, noise, lighting, traffic, and neighborhood and land-use impacts, Hoegen said.
The borough will also be able to call its own witnesses at future hearings, and residents will have the chance to testify before the board ultimately votes on the power plants.