Keystone State News Connection – Danielle Smith

January 26, 2024

A new report says two economic-impact studies gave misleading information to Pennsylvania policymakers and residents about the economic advantages of the petrochemical complex operated by Shell in Beaver County.

According to the findings from the Ohio River Valley Institute, the plastics plant hasn’t brought the economic boom, and promised jobs haven’t materialized.

Report co-author Nick Messenger explained that the studies published by Robert Morris University were used to justify billions of dollars’ worth of tax incentives for the Shell project.

“This analysis had really been done honestly using a lot of Shell’s own assumptions, and this study really did that,” he said. “It made some assumptions that were pretty questionable, and that’s why they got a large over-estimate in the economic impact.”

He added that as the plant approaches one year of operations, some of the long-term employment opportunities have not been sustainable. The report found that since the project was first announced in 2012, Beaver County has lost nearly 10% of its jobs and more than 3% of its business firms.

Shell has not yet replied to a request for comment.

Messenger contended that the Shell plant negatively affects home values in Beaver County, and creates environmental health risks such as asthma. Residents also have reported concern over the environmental impacts of Shell flaring excess gas into the atmosphere.

“The plant has struggled to operate,” he said. “They came to a $10 million environmental settlement with Pennsylvania last year. They’ve exceeded their pollution limits, they’ve had to shut down production several times because of faulty construction, and just malfunctions in the facility.”

The report encouraged policy leaders in Pennsylvania and across the country to ask more difficult questions when economic analyses such as these are presented.

Shell aims to speed up the shift to a net-zero emissions energy business by cutting emissions from its operations and the energy products it sells.

PITTSBURGH — Following a two-year process, Duquesne Light Company (DLC) has selected the winning solution of its public crowdsourcing innovation challenge — “Monitoring Electrical Cable Challenge: The Future of Underground Inspection” — focused on creating a safer and more reliable underground electrical network in DLC’s two-county service territory in southwestern Pennsylvania. The “Smart Cable Guard” system by DNV stood out among other submissions for its quick installation times, enhanced visibility on potential infrastructure issues and ability to be effectively applied to Pittsburgh’s complex electrical grid. The Smart Cable Guard also met the challenge’s safety, operational and cost requirements needed to move the implementation process forward.

“DLC is committed to investing in critical infrastructure and enhancing our dedication to worker and public safety. This project emphasizes the importance of innovation in our industry and shows how DLC is solving current and future challenges while continuing to drive our mission of a clean energy future for all,” said Brian Guzek, DLC’s vice president of corporate strategy. “DNV’s Smart Cable Guard will enable us to identify and address potential issues within our underground cable system faster, which will lead to improved worker and public safety for many years to come. We greatly appreciate DNV’s collaboration and expertise over the past few years and look forward to implementing their devices across our underground network.”

The Smart Cable Guard system is designed to be installed throughout the underground electrical grid, feeding real-time data into an analytics platform powered by AI that sends operational alerts to DLC. The company will receive live data that quickly locates cable faults, identifies current cable conditions and predicts future issues before any work is performed. The information can also help crews determine what protective gear and equipment are necessary to have on-site. DLC is only the third utility in North America to implement this innovative technology.

“It was highly rewarding to work with DLC’s Innovation team to showcase our technology in alignment with their specifications and demonstrate that our online monitoring platform is ideally suited to support the requirements of U.S. utilities,” said Richard Denissen, director of Smart Cable Guard at DNV. “Winning the competition is a testament to the need for technology that enables utilities to keep power outages at a minimum while ensuring safety for their workers and the public. We are delighted that DLC’s independent competition confirmed that the Smart Cable Guard 24/7 online monitoring system is the leading solution to improve grid reliability, resilience and safety.”

DLC launched the innovation challenge in December 2021 through crowdsourcing platform HeroX and received submissions from entrepreneurs, scientists, researchers and students from around the world. Beginning in 2025, the company expects to implement DNV’s system across more than 500 miles of its underground network over a five-year period.

File – Tesla vehicles charge at a station in Emeryville, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. Tesla’s stock is faltering before the market open on Thursday as the electric vehicle, solar panel and battery maker cautioned on slower sales growth this year and posted weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez, File)

Shares of Tesla are tumbling at the opening bell as the electric vehicle, solar panel and battery maker warns investors of slower sales growth this year after posting fourth-quarter profits that were weaker than most had expected. In a letter to shareholders released Wednesday, Tesla warned that sales growth this year may be “notably lower” than the 2023 growth rate, as it works to launch a more affordable next-generation vehicles. Wedbush’s Dan Ives said in a client note that Tesla’s conference call on Wednesday to go over its financial results left many frustrated.

FILE – In this Feb. 8, 2022, photo, Jennifer and James Crumbley, the parents of Ethan Crumbley, appear in court in Rochester Hills, Mich. The mother of the Michigan school shooter is headed to trial on involuntary manslaughter charges. Prosecutors are trying to pin criminal responsibility on Ethan Crumbley’s parents in the deaths of four students at Oxford High School in 2021. Jennifer and James Crumbley are not accused of knowing their son planned to kill fellow students. But prosecutors say they were grossly negligent by making a gun accessible to Ethan Crumbley and ignoring his mental health needs. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, file)

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — Jurors in Michigan have heard opening statements in the trial of the mother of a school shooter. Jennifer Crumbley is charged with involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors say she was grossly negligent in not removing her son from Oxford High School when confronted with his violent drawings. She’s also accused of making a gun accessible at home. But defense attorney Shannon Smith says blame belongs to the shooter, not Jennifer Crumbley. The boy’s father, James Crumbley, will face trial in March. Ethan Crumbley is serving a life sentence.

UPPER DARBY, Pa. (AP) — A Philadelphia-area woman has been charged with animal cruelty after police say videos she posted show her torturing and killing animals live on the internet. Delaware County court records show 28-year-old Anigar Monsee is charged with four felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals. Superintendent Timothy Bernhardt of the Upper Darby police department told the Delaware County Daily Times that an animal rights group alerted authorities Friday about the videos. Police allege in a criminal complaint that in one video the woman “repeatedly commented on the number of viewers and likes, and solicited more, before she harmed the animal.” Court documents don’t list a defense attorney.

File – The iPhone 15 Pro is shown after its introduction on the Apple campus, Sept. 12, 2023, in Cupertino, Calif. Apple rolled out an update to its iOS operating system this week with a feature called Stolen Device Protection that makes it a lot harder for phone thieves to access key functions and settings. Users are being urged to turn it on immediately. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

LONDON (AP) — Apple has rolled out an update to its operating system this week with a feature called Stolen Device Protection. It makes it a lot harder for phone thieves to access key functions and settings, and users are being urged to turn it on immediately. The software update for iPhones and iPads addresses a vulnerability that thieves have discovered and exploited: allowing them to lock victims out of their Apple accounts, delete their photos and other files from their iCloud accounts and empty their bank accounts by accessing passwords kept in the Keychain password manager.

FILE – Melanie Safka opens the second day of the “A Day In The Garden” festival on Aug. 15, 1988, in Bethel, N.Y. Melanie, a singer-songwriter behind 1970s hits including “Brand New Key,” has died. Melanie’s publicist tells The Associated Press that she died Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. She was 76. Born Melanie Safka, the singer rose through the New York folk scene and was one of only three solo women to perform at Woodstock. Her hits included “Lay Down” and “Look What They’ve Done to My Song Ma.” (AP Photo/Ken Bizzigotti, File)

Melanie, a singer-songwriter behind 1970s hits including “Brand New Key,” has died. Melanie’s publicist tells The Associated Press that she died Tuesday. She was 76. Born Melanie Safka, the singer rose through the New York folk scene and was one of only three solo women to perform at Woodstock. Her hits included “Lay Down” and “Look What They’ve Done to My Song Ma.” But she was best known for “Brand New Key,” a song she wrote about a girl who roller skates past the house of a boy she longs for. It went to No. 1 in the U.S. and several other countries and became a cultural staple.

FILE – The New York Stock Exchange is seen in New York, Tuesday, June 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rising following signals that the economy is growing much more powerfully than economists expected. The S&P 500 was 0.4% higher early Thursday. The Dow rose 113 points, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% higher. IBM helped lead the market after it reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. That helped offset a tumble for Tesla, which forecast slower growth this year. The market’s main focus was on a report indicating the U.S. economy steamed ahead in the last three months of 2023 at a far faster rate than economists were expecting.

Students arrive for classes at Taylor Allderdice High School in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. The mother of an intellectually disabled girl who allegedly was led from school grounds by three male students and sexually assaulted in a Starbucks bathroom and a nearby empty building has filed a lawsuit Wednesday, Jan 24, 2024, accusing Starbucks, Pittsburgh Public Schools and a property management company of negligence. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

The mother of an intellectually disabled girl has filed a lawsuit against Starbucks, Pittsburgh Public Schools and a property management company, accusing all three entities of negligence in creating the conditions that allegedly led to her daughter being sexually assaulted in the Starbucks bathroom and at a nearby empty property. The lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges that three male students led the girl off campus to the Starbucks, where employees noticed them take her into the bathroom but did not intervene. The lawsuit accuses the school district of failing to provide adequate supervision and protection, and the businesses of failing to address the increasing crime in the area with security or employee trainings.

Heinz Field photo courtesy of Aliquippa AD Dr. Jennifer J. Damico 

HARRISBURG, Jan. 24 – As the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association meets to consider the Aliquippa School District’s appeal of the PIAA’s decision to bump Aliquippa High School’s football team to a 5A classification, state Rep. Rob Matzie today introduced legislation to resolve problems with the way Pennsylvania’s 1,400 public, private and charter schools are classified to compete in athletic competitions.

Matzie – who is vice chairman and the longest-serving member of the Pennsylvania Athletic Oversight Committee – said he introduced H.B. 1972 to address longstanding concerns that PIAA’s procedure for classifying schools places student athletes in harm’s way and skews competitions in favor of wealthier schools and those with larger enrollment numbers.

“When the PIAA determines the athletic level at which our high schools compete, they use a competition classification formula based on enrollment, success and transfers,” Matzie said. “Based on the formula, PIAA can force schools to move up a classification. But there is a dangerous flaw in PIAA’s formula that they have been stubbornly unwilling to address.

“When considering enrollment as part of the formula, schools that voluntarily play up in a higher classification are pigeonholed by the PIAA into that higher classification used for the formula – regardless of the school’s actual enrollment size. The result is that a football team with 144 players can end up being forced to play a school with 424 players.

“It’s a dangerous system that jeopardizes the health and safety of students in smaller schools that lack the numbers to field larger rosters or the finances to match athletic budgets. It also sends the wrong message to our kids by in effect punishing successful efforts to voluntarily seek better competition. My bill would fix the situation by removing a school’s voluntary decision to play up from the decision-making process.”

Matzie is also working to garner support for his soon-to-be-introduced legislation that would hasten a comprehensive study of PIAA policies and practices.

According to a co-sponsorship memorandum Matzie is circulating, the bill would direct the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to study and make recommendations regarding the PIAA’s competition classification formula; student transfer policy; location of state championships; broadcast agreements; name, image, and likeness policy; financial performance; board composition; and the potential expansion of the Pennsylvania Athletic Oversight Committee’s authority.

“To be clear, this is not an effort to legislatively wrest control from the PIAA, but to examine the atmosphere and actions of the PIAA and identify areas needing revision or improvement,” Matzie said. “It’s been over two decades since a thorough study of the PIAA was performed. It’s well past time to take another look.”

Matzie’s actions come as the PIAA meets today to consider Aliquippa’s appeal of the association’s recent decision to move the Quips to the 5A classification for the next two seasons. In 2020, the PIAA moved the team from 3A to 4A. When the association attempted to move them to 5A in 2022, the school appealed based on player safety and won that appeal. For the 2024 and 2025 seasons, however, the board has removed player safety as a consideration.

The PIAA oversees senior high and junior high athletic competitions and is charged with developing and enforcing rules regulating those competitions, which involve more than 1,400 public, charter and private schools and more than 350,000 student athletes.