Gene Giernacky fears he may lose use of part of his rural 15-acre retirement property in Derry Township, while Mike Adams could face the prospect of seeing the timber he intends to use as a heat source for his neighboring home toppled by a utility company.

They were among more than 100 people who headed to the R.K. Mellon Elementary gym Wednesday evening to learn about and comment on four alternate routes FirstEnergy is considering for a proposed new power line that would cross Chestnut Ridge, connecting Derry and Ligonier.

The Derry Township neighbors were most concerned about the northernmost of the proposed routes, dubbed Alternate No. 4.

“That’s going to be within 50 to 60 feet of my house,” Giernacky said of the proposed 138-kilovolt transmission line. “I won’t be able to do anything with the property beside my driveway. We’ll still own it, and we’ll still pay taxes on it. But we can’t do anything with it.”

He said his family spent about two decades restoring and expanding a 1908 cabin on the land.

“This is our dream home,” he said. “This is supposed to be for our retirement.”

Adams has been living on his land near the Derry Rod and Gun Club since 1978, expanding his holding to about 26 acres in 2013.

He said the proposed power line would run through the middle of his property, negatively affecting his hunting .

More importantly, he said the line would run through trees that he harvests to heat his home.

“I planned on using those woods for the next 40 years,” he said. “If you take 100 feet out of the middle, that pretty much wipes out my woods.”

FirstEnergy indicated it will generally require a 100-footwide easement for the new line. It would be supported primarily by steel poles and would extend over 8 to 10 miles, depending on the route chosen.

The new line is meant to enhance service reliability for about 6,000 Derry Township customers served by the Ethel Springs substation and 5,100 in the Ligonier area served by the Bethlen substation, according to FirstEnergy spokesman Will Boye.

The utility anticipates selecting a preferred route in March and applying to the state Public Utility Commission for approval in the second quarter of 2025. Boye said input from Wednesday’s meeting will help in choosing the best route.

Construction on the line could occur between the fourth quarter of 2026 and the second quarter of 2028.

Giernacky acknowledged the need for improved electrical service in the area. He said frequent power outages make a backup generator a must at his home.

‘Middle-ground’ route?

Giernacky and Adams were among several who attended the meeting who prefer a middle-ground route that would follow an existing power line for much of its length.

But Julie Howatineck, who lives along Clark Hollow Road in Ligonier Township, said that alternate would add to the concerns she already has about the power line that runs through her neighborhood.

She cited health concerns about living near the high-voltage line, indicating a number of residents in that vicinity have been stricken with cancer.

Howatineck said the proposed new line would be even closer to her house.

Southernmost route

The southernmost of the proposed line routes would pass just to the north of the Route 30 corridor, causing concern for some other property owners in Ligonier Township.

Rosslyn Kemerer, whose family has an eight-acre homestead along Orme Road, said she likely would have to move if the power line cut through their property.

She has expressed concern that the line would cause ill effects for the exotic fowl they raise as well as the bees they keep.

“You can feel the static when you walk under it,” she said of such lines.

Susan Huba, executive director of the Loyalhanna Watershed Association, has said the southern route would be “the most detrimental to the scenic green space preservation within the Loyalhanna Gorge and Route 30 Greenway Corridor Conservation Areas” that the association has worked with other organizations to preserve.

She said the proposed line would pass across a 50-acre property along Route 259 that is subject to a conservation easement held by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy — worded to exclude power lines.

In the end, Giernacky said, his concerns about the proposed power line aren’t any more important than those of other residents along one of the routes.

“It affects everybody,” he said. “I know it’s got to go somewhere.”

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