Contact: Barbara Drebing Kauffman    

                STOPTHETREECHOP.COM

                610-299-2594  cell

                [email protected]                    

                       PRESS RELEASE

Swarthmore, PA, January, 4, 2022: Residents of Swarthmore, PA, home of Swarthmore College and The Scott Arboretum, have organized as STOPTHETREECHOP.COM, to demand installation of only underground electric lines which assure fire safety in extreme wind and violent storms, even nearby tornadoes, which are frequent and now inevitable. 

Residents are rejecting proposed aerial higher voltage electric lines mounted atop 45 to 55 foot poles to be installed in their yards in close proximity to their old homes, garages and other buildings, as presented by a division of Exelon Corporation, their local utility PECO (Philadelphia Electric Company).

PECO has decided to close the nearby Morton Substation and not invest to replace it, which mandates that the job of the entire substation to transform higher voltage to lower voltage for home use will occur instead on the utility poles themselves, to be installed in yards in close proximity to old homes, garages and other buildings. 

Residents have been informed that the primary line at the top of the proposed 45 to 55 foot poles (current poles are 35 foot) will carry higher voltage, while the transformer (looks like a large can) will hang below and reduce the voltage for the bottom secondary line to run into homes. 

Since violent storms and extreme winds, with nearby tornadoes, are now frequent events, these towering poles and higher voltage lines, to be mounted close to old homes, garages and other buildings, carry fire and safety hazards, which underground lines would eliminate.

Residents do not accept the risks carried by higher voltage aerial lines and towering poles on their properties in close proximity to their homes and families.  Underground lines assure no fire hazard and are the safest way to provide this service to this compact town of old homes. 

Exelon/PECO is saving millions in operating costs by closing Morton Substation and saving multi-millions in capital expenditures by deciding not to invest to replace it.  A portion of these extreme savings should be applied to provide safe underground lines for families living in compact, tree-intensive Swarthmore, adjacent to the town of Morton. 

Residents in Swarthmore know underground lines are feasible because one third of the town’s land is now served by underground lines, on many streets and throughout the college campus and The Scott Arboretum.  

Residents of Swarthmore know the installation of underground lines can be performed down the center of Borough roads efficiently and without harming tree roots. This was done by PECO in 1994, instead of proposed aerial higher voltage lines along Riverview Road, in response to a restraining order filed in Federal Court in Philadelphia by concerned Swarthmore residents.

Swarthmore residents are united in demanding that PECO’s Morton Substation project team redesign the scope of PECO’s project to install only underground lines to assure safety for families in their compact, tree-intensive town of old homes, experiencing extreme wind and storms which are now inevitable. 

Headquartered in Swarthmore, PA, STOPTHETREECHOP.COM is a group of concerned residents of Swarthmore who want to safeguard the future of their families, their homes, and their Borough experiencing extreme weather, including nearby tornadoes, of climate change.   

For release 3:30 P.M. EST, January 4, 2022.