News

March 18, 2010

Award of $70M power line contract to create 50+ jobs in Hazleton area

By Steve Mocarsky smocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
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HAZLETON - PPL Electric Utilities has announced the award of a $70 million contract to construct steel support poles for a segment of a major power transmission line to a company with manufacturing plants in the Hazleton area.

Valmont Industries Inc. will design and manufacture steel poles for the 101-mile Pennsylvania segment of the Susquehanna-Roseland line, which officials say is needed to prevent overloads on existing lines and is designed to avoid a regional blackout like the one that affected millions of people in 2003.

The line will run from Berwick across the Northeastern part of the state into the Lake Wallenpaupack area, south to the Bushkill area and ultimately cross the Delaware River into New Jersey.

The award of the contract enables the creation of more than 50 new jobs at the two plants located in Valmont Industrial Park in West Hazleton and in the Heights section of Hazleton.

Paul Fallon, general manager of Valmont Industries, said new jobs will include certified welders, mechanics, machine operators and support staff and are the kind of jobs that pay well above the average area pay scale. He said the Hazleton area plants will expand from a two-shift schedule to a three-shift schedule.

The choice of a local employer over competitors elsewhere in the United States will mean significant economic benefits for this region and Pennsylvania, said PPL President David G. DeCampli.

In addition to the jobs directly created, the contract will have "significant positive ripple effects for the regional economy," creating 165 to 330 construction jobs and having an economic impact of $100 million over a three-year period in the region, DeCampli said.

Before construction of the power line can begin, an approval is needed from the National Park Service because the route passes through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and crosses the Appalachian Trail on the corridor of an existing transmission line.

Read the complete story in The Times Leader on Friday.

 

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