ALERT: Garden Court is Under Threat from PECO
Updated: Sep 22
This page is dedicated to sharing information with our community about PECO's plan to install utility poles, hang 13kV wire on tree-lined blocks that have not had power lines in 100 years, and brutalizing and forever preventing healthy growth of our tree canopy in the process. As of 21 September 2026, 357 neighbors have signed a petition objecting to PECO's plans and demanding any new wires be placed underground. If you haven't yet, SIGN THE PETITION, AND FILL OUT THE QUICK SURVEY TO GET UPDATES AND CALLS FOR ACTION:
The entries below will provide periodic public updates.
22 SEPTEMBER 2026 - Digging into the Motivation for this Project
At the 8/26 meeting, amid refusing to answer questions, PECO staff told us that their "modernization" project is for the purposes of (ill-defined) reliability and accommodating future electric demand by solar panels and electric cars. By the end of the meeting, staff had revealed that the urgent reliability issues at the apartment at 48th and Osage seem to have been resolved, since switching the building to a different circuit in July. According to census data, the tracts that make up our neighborhood have declined in population since 1990, and we all know that appliances have gotten more efficient since then. But more to the point, one of our neighborsdid some digging and found an August 2026 report from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission that indicates effectively flat residential usage over the past decade, with only a slight forecasted increase. The main driver of overall forecasted energy use increases is from industrial uses, which is consistent with other recent warnings from the PUC that blackouts in the region will become possible with data centers coming online. The point here is that solar panels and electric cars may NOT be the reason PECO is planning 13kV wires throughout neighborhood.
Last week, we learned from a PECO official that the utility plans to decommission at least one substation in West Philly ('Pentridge' at 52nd and Pentridge, along the railroad, just south of Baltimore at the fire station), because it is aging, doesn't have remote access capabilities, etc. Why does that matter? Well, we think this is part of a pattern. First, as part of a project to replace a flood-damaged substation with one that may be intended to serve a possible hyperscale data center in Upper Merion, PECO is planning to "extend three new 13kV electric circuits into Bridgeport Borough to expand capacity." Second, a couple of years ago, PECO removed 124 trees and ran new 13kV lines through the northern part of Swarthmore as part of the decommissioning of the Morton Substation. "Since substations transform power from a higher to a lower voltage, they cannot be retired unless the distribution system downstream from the substation is upgraded to operate at a higher voltage" ... solar panels and electric cars were framed as an ancilary benefit of the voltage upgrade, but not the fundamental purpose. This was a $12M project, compared to the $15M planned for West Philly.
Our concern is that PECO is running higher voltage lines through neighborhoods like ours because it is a cheaper alternative to the more costly endeavor of upgrading/rebuilding a substation. In short, they are unloading the need to rebuild and maintain costly assets and taking them off their balance sheet (pleasing the shareholders who have seen surging profits) by forcing communities to bear the burden through reduced quality of life while they invest in infrastructure that serves Silicon Valley . They are abusing the authority they have been granted, as evidenced by the unchecked despotism exercised in the face of community opposition in Swarthmore: "What other alternatives were considered? PECO performed multiple evaluations and studies to mitigate the project impact, and none provided a viable alternative to the project that has been selected;" "There is no arbitration process for tree removals and trimming;” “easement limits do not dictate the scope of work for vegetation management." If this can happen in Swarthmore and West Philly, it can happen in Germantown and Glenside.
If PECO wants to save the high cost of rebuilding a substation, then that should not come at our neighborhood's expense, and they should bear the cost and inconvenience of putting the wires underground.
9 SEPTEMBER 2026
In mid-August, neighbors in the vicinity of 48th and Osage learned that since 2023, PECO has been planning a project to better accommodate the future electric demands of electric cars, solar panels. The company, owned by Chicago-based Exelon Corporation is planning to install utility poles and 13,000 volt distribution wires on blocks that have never had power lines before, and dramatically reduce tree canopy to accommodate them. To prevent interference with wires, PECO contractors will then conduct additional tree trimming every 3-5 years. At best, this treatment mutilates shade trees; at worst, it results in their eventual demise. Installation of utility poles is also likely not limited to the distribution lines 40 feet above the ground; over time, they are used for any number of lower voltage service lines and an ever-growing assortment of telecommunications cables as low as 12 feet off the sidewalk. All of this is a common sight throughout other parts of the city. If implemented unchanged, PECO’s plans to unilaterally impose utility poles and power lines will degrade the quality of tree-lined streets that have defined the Garden Court neighborhood and made it a stable, diverse, and desirable place to live for 100 years.
An Inquirer article on 9/3 reported that this project is for the 400 block of S 48th Street, but neighbors who attended an 8/26 community meeting were told by PECO and the 3rd District Councilperson that that is only Phase 1 of a larger $15M initiative in the neighborhood. PECO officials provided very little information at this meeting, refusing to provide details about the scope and timing of Phases 2 and 3. The project is paused until a second, yet-to-be-scheduled, community meeting is held, where PECO is expected to provide more information. At this point, the 4600, 4700, 4800, and 4900 blocks of Pine, Osage, and Larchwood are considered to be at risk as early as spring of 2027, in addition to 46th, 47th, and 48th Streets between Pine and Baltimore. Like 400 S 48th Street, some number of these blocks are expected have their tree canopies forever disfigured unless PECO changes course.
Neighbors are organizing to protect Garden Court and need your support in insisting that the new distribution lines be placed underground, not overhead. Underground wires are not as “fast and cheap” as aerial ones, but are considerably more resilient against weather events, saving rate-payers and investors money in the long run, and may be further justified by the density of rate-payers per linear foot of infrastructure in this neighborhood compared to more suburban and exurban settings. Underground wires may create disturbance during initial installation, but prevent the perpetual cycle of tree butchery, and the ever-growing volume of cables and wires that comes with utility poles. PECO wires are run underground throughout Center City, in the “downtown” portion of University City, and in certain suburban areas throughout PECO’s service area where it is deemed a priority. In fact, according to a PECO spokesperson in a 2014 Inquirer article, 40% of wires in PECO’s system are underground. It CAN be done; West Philadelphia deserves the same.
Additional info / FAQ
Bear with us as we populate this section!
How did we get to this point?
Residents of 48th Street and Osage Avenue received flyers during the week of 8/17, informing them that tree canopy reduction for an electrical project was going to start the following week. Some neighbors were asked to sign consent forms for tree trimming after having been provided very little information, and have since retracted their consent. After residents contacted PECO and the councilperson, the start of the work was paused until a previously scheduled ‘town hall’ meeting with PECO, hosted by the Councilperson, on 8/26. At that meeting, residents learned that PECO has been planning a project since 2023 for the purpose of upgrading the electrical system in the neighborhood for the purpose of improving reliability and meeting future demands of uses like electric cars and solar panel systems.
After more than two years of planning without any public notice or consultation, the first phase - along the 400 block of S. 48th Street (Pine-Larchwood) - was supposed to begin in late August and be completed by November, but has been temporarily paused with the assistance of Councilperson Gauthier as neighbors demand information and that an alternative be considered. PECO says that there are two other phases to the project, but has refused to provide any public information about their scope. A second community meeting is supposed to be scheduled by the Councilperson with PECO.
Why is it important to prevent powerlines on tree-lined streets?
PECO and the Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation promote the principle of “right tree, right place,” meaning that tall trees should not be planted in the vicinity of 3-phase distribution lines because they grow to interfere with wires and then require canopy reduction which is then repeated every 3-5 years. At best, this treatment mutilates shade trees; at worst it results in their eventual demise.
What about service reliability at the apartment building?
This larger project has been in the works since 2023, but Phase 1 involving the 400 block of S 48th Street was accelerated at the request of the 3rd District City Councilperson after outages that lasted several days in the winter of 2025/2026, resulting in loss of food, medical difficulties etc. We all agree that nobody should have to experience that sort of thing, and that getting stable power to these buildings is important. At the 8/26 community meeting, we learned from PECO staff that since about July, the building has been switched to a different circuit and power has appeared to have been stable during the high-demand weeks of the summer, which is very good. This issue begs that question of whether moving the 13,000 volt project forward quickly is truly necessary, or whether that issue has been manipulated to move the project forward and seek to pit neighbors interests against each other.
What was going on with the wires on the street?
You may have noticed that in July and August there were temporary power lines along the curb of 48th Street and across Larchwood Avenue, connecting the apartment at the northeast corner of Osage to the utility pole at the northeast corner of Larchwood. What we learned at the 8/26 meeting that those wires were never energized; they were put in as a "just in case" measure after PECO switched the apartment building to a different circuit so that if something went wrong, the building could be powered with the flick of a switch during the strike that happened in July, without needing to perform a lot of work. Those lines were removed by PECO crews the afternoon of the 8/26 community meeting, presumably because PECO intended canopy reduction work to begin the next day.
Does PECO have underground lines in Garden Court already?
Yes. There is an underground wire on the west side of the 400 block of 48th Street, powering a street light, and connected via junction boxes at the corners of Larchwood and Osage which were considerably reconstructed in about January of 2026.
How are these blocks of houses powered?
Most homes in Garden Court are served by rear-mounted (AKA "rear bus") lines on the alley side of the house, rather than individual service lines of a pole-mounted distribution line in the street. So, for example, the 4700 blocks of Osage and Larchwood, along with the east side of 48th Street are powered with rear service from 47th Street. The west side of 48th and the 4800 block of Osage and Larchwood are powered with rear service from 49th. The higher voltage distribution lines proposed on 48th Street would not be directly serving these addresses.
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