Chris Kelly Opinion: A petition for better acting in politics and PR

PPL Electric Utilities has unveiled plans for a significant electricity infrastructure upgrade in Lackawanna County, primarily in Archbald. The project includes three new switchyards, a substation, and 12 miles of new transmission lines, prompting local columnist Chris Kelly to suggest these upgrades are clearly designed to facilitate data center development, despite PPL's claims of general reliability and increased capacity for unidentified new customers. Simultaneously, the county's political landscape is seeing a "civil war" within Democratic parties. Incumbent state Sen. Marty Flynn faced challenges to his nominating petitions, some of which were submitted by local businessman Alpesh "Al" Patel. Patel, described as an "aspiring data center developer" and a major Flynn donor, had petitions with suspicious, seemingly ghostwritten signatures. Flynn's attorney, Kevin Greenberg, dismissed the irregularities as the work of "some volunteer," a characterization Kelly calls disingenuous given Patel's prominent role in county politics. The public informational open house for the PPL project at the Throop Civic Center has been indefinitely postponed. Kelly asserts that the utility's "overdue upgrade" narrative and the local political drama are interconnected, potentially leading to lasting damage to the community's objective reality.