What are journalists missing from the state of Delaware? What would you most like WHYY News to cover? Let us know.

Efforts by two tiny bucolic villages in northern Delaware to thwart Delmarva Power’s plan to replace high-voltage transmission lines have crumbled under a lawsuit filed by the state’s dominant electricity provider.

Ardentown and Ardencroft, whose roughly 500 residents live in a self-proclaimed
“forest ecosystem” of mature woodlands and open spaces known as “greens,” object to the looming replacement of seven tall metal towers, one more than 100 feet high, that were built a century ago on what was then farmland.

The existing towers traverse about a half-mile of mostly hilly terrain through the two towns, with some located between the backyard of homes in a Delmarva right-of-way. Their replacement with galvanized steel structures designed to withstand hurricane-force winds is part of Delmarva’s 4.5-mile upgrade that’s aimed at improving reliability service for 13,000 customers while reducing the frequency and duration of outages.

But the village’s governing assemblies contend the project will tarnish the lush enclave by clear-cutting trees and disrupting lead-contaminated soil beneath the towers. They want the project rerouted about a quarter-mile away, near railroad tracks where Delmarva already has some towers. WHYY News detailed the controversy in January.

In a bid to stymie Delmarva, Ardencroft banned new transmission lines and towers last year, and approved an annual impact fee for existing transmission infrastructure. In March, the town sent Delmarva a $12,833.17 impact fee bill for 2025.

Earlier this year, Ardentown formally entered the fray, prohibiting transmission towers and poles from exceeding 100 feet in height, with fines of $1,000 per day for violations. Ardentown also banned new transmission lines or tower infrastructure of 60 kilovolts or more within 100 feet of any home, with fines of $1,500 per day for violations.

Delmarva’s existing lines and towers, both Ardentown ordinances said, have “caused almost 100 years of unnecessary harm and avoidable risk to our village.”

In response to the villages’ laws and fees, Delmarva fired back on Oct. 31 against Ardentown — but not Ardencroft — in Delaware’s Chancery Court, which is recognized internationally for its ability to resolve business and corporate disputes.

Delmarva’s suit asked the court to invalidate Ardentown’s new laws and order the town to pay its legal bills. The 27-page filing accused the town of exceeding its legislative authority by violating the village’s 1926 contract with predecessor American Power Company that allows the lines, the Delaware Public Service Commission’s authority to regulate utilities and Delmarva’s constitutional property rights.

“The 1926 Ardentown Easement does not limit the height of the towers/poles located in the Ardentown Easement Area, nor does it limit the voltage carried by the transmission lines,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit added that the easement “gives Delmarva Power, among other things, the right to ‘repair and renew said poles, towers, structures, fixtures, and wires.’”

None of the current towers are higher than 100 feet, according to the lawsuit, but all of the proposed ones are, and the law was only enacted after Delmarva shared details of its “long-planned improvements” with town leaders.

“At their core, the ordinances are nothing more than a ‘not in my backyard’ attempt to force Delmarva Power to re-route its existing transmission line away from Ardentown and through other communities,” the lawsuit said.

Noting that the project’s completion deadline is the end of 2026, the lawsuit said that failing to finish by then “risks real-time operational reliability problems, including outages to a large number of customers or higher energy costs to customers.”

From Delco to Chesco and Montco to Bucks, what about life in Philly’s suburbs do you want WHYY News to cover? Let us know!

The head of a Delaware County advocacy group has been charged with using opioid settlement funds to coerce sexual favors from women experiencing addiction.

Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer charged Lawrence Arata, executive director of the Opioid Crisis Action Network, with human trafficking, patronizing prostitutes, obstruction of justice and witness intimidation.

“Our investigation concluded that Larry Arata cynically and cruelly misused those funds as leverage to satisfy his sexual desires,” Stollsteimer said in a statement.

Arata turned himself in on Wednesday to the district attorney’s Criminal Investigation Division and later posted bail. No attorney was listed for Arata in online court records and he did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Opioid Crisis Action Network did not respond to a request for comment.

Lawrence Arata, 65, founded the Upper Darby-based organization in 2018 with his wife, Heather Arata, shortly after their son died from a heroin overdose. The Opioid Crisis Action Network pays for treatment and housing for people with substance use disorder.

The organization was a recipient of opioid settlement money from Delaware County as well as the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust, Stollsteimer said. The Criminal Investigation Division, in collaboration with the Upper Darby Police Department, initiated a joint investigation into Arata after receiving complaints.

“The allegations revolve around Arata receiving sexual favors from clients who are in recovery for drug addictions in exchange for program benefits such as meal credits, gift cards, bus passes, money, rental assistance, and the like,” the affidavit of probable cause reads.