Thirteen West Hills communities were among the municipalities receiving natural gas impact fees totaling more than $41,000 for 2025, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) reported.
The fee awards ranged from a low of $134 for Pennsbury Village to a high of $17,313 for Moon Township.
A total of $243,877,400 in natural gas impact fees collected from producers were distributed statewide for the 2025 reporting year. This funding benefits counties, municipalities and state programs under Act 13 of 2012, which established the unconventional gas well fee.
This year’s distribution brings the cumulative total of impact fees collected and distributed since 2012 to more than $3.12 billion.
Fees earmarked for West Hills municipalities are as follows:
- Carnegie: $1,822
- Coraopolis: $3,560
- Crafton: $1,355
- Ingram $732
- Kennedy: $1,974
- McKees Rocks: $1,342
- Moon: $17,313
- Neville: $739
- Pennsbury Village: $134
- Robinson: $10,320
- Rosslyn Farms: $216
- Stowe: $1,413
- Thornburg: $172
A little less than $134 million went to counties and municipalities directly affected by drilling activity, $89.2 million went to the Marcellus Legacy Fund, which supports statewide environmental initiatives, greenways and infrastructure projects, and $20.9 million went to state agencies.
The PUC has submitted this year’s distribution data to the Pennsylvania Treasury, which is expected to begin issuing payments in early July.
The 2025 distribution is approximately $79 million higher than last year’s total, due primarily to an increase in new wells spud in 2025 (444) compared with 309 in 2024 and a higher average natural gas price ($3.43 per MMBtu) — an increase over the 2024 average of $2.27.
Extensive information about this year’s impact fees – including county- and municipality-level distributions, producer payments and historical data – is available on the PUC’s Act 13 website.
Funding obtained for affordable housing projects
Programs that address affordable housing needs in the 42nd Senatorial District — including one in McKees Rocks — will receive state grants totaling $2,925,000, state Sen. Wayne Fontana announced Tuesday.
LEVEL: Equity Building will receive $250,000 to expand and enhance its cohesive and customized counseling, education and outreach services to provide comprehensive home ownership services to future low- to moderate-income homebuyers in McKees Rocks.
According to its website, LEVEL is a 501c3 nonprofit providing a holistic, system-innovating program model to develop homeowners, housing stock and communities at a pace complementing each other. Its focus is to acquire, assemble and own real estate, and provide development and construction management expertise and capacity to community development corporations, municipalities and neighborhoods.
The grants are made available through the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement (PHARE) Fund, which is managed by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.
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