Energy
Coal-fired power failures during winter storm come to light months later
Last December a mass of arctic air, later unofficially named Winter Storm Elliott, swept through Kentucky plunging temperatures to as low as eight degrees below zero. The frigid weather led to a power supply crunch across the Southeast as households and businesses tried to stay warm.? Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities, the state’s […]
Biden administration cancels last leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The Biden administration on Wednesday announced it is canceling the last remaining oil and gas leases in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Those seven leases, all held by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority and sold in a controversial auction held in the last days of former President Donald Trump’s […]
Kentucky regulator denies electricity discounts for crypto mining proposal
Kentucky’s utility regulator has denied millions of dollars in electricity discounts offered by utility Kentucky Power to support a massive cryptocurrency mining operation in Eastern Kentucky.? The Kentucky Public Service Commission in a Monday order stated Chinese-owned Ebon International, the proposed Lawrence County cryptocurrency-mining facility, would “unquestionably” create jobs along with tax revenue for local […]
Federal, state regulators prod utilities to consider technology for grid upgrade
Of the many challenges confronting the nation’s aging, straining electric grid, the need for a lot of new transmission capacity is among the most pressing, experts and policymakers say. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Energy said the nation will need thousands of miles of new lines to better link regions to handle extreme […]
Organizers out to help shape power generation in Kentucky for decades
On a recent August weekend, canvassers walked along a neighborhood street in West Louisville, cars and semi-trucks roaring down the nearby interstate just a few hundred feet away. Chase Smith with the progressive grassroots organization Kentuckians for the Commonwealth knocked on each door, asking people if they “have a couple of seconds to talk about […]
Incentives for Bitcoin mining operation run by Kentucky’s largest coal producer gets regulator’s OK
Kentucky’s utility regulator has approved more than $4 million in electricity cost discounts over several years for a Bitcoin mining operation being run by Kentucky’s largest coal producer. The Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) in its Monday order said the economic development incentives offered by Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities (LG&E and KU) […]
Need help paying for AC? Here’s how to apply for aid.
Community action agencies across Kentucky are now accepting applications to help residents pay their electric bills. The summer subsidies are available through?the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and Low-Income Home Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP). LIHEAP can provide a household with a one-time payment between $50 and $250, depending on income and household type, to […]
Federal regulators approve new rules to ease power connection backlogs?
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday finalized long-awaited new rules intended to reform how power generation projects get connected to the electric grid, seen as a major step in smoothing the path for thousands of mostly renewable power projects currently waiting to plug in. “This rule will ensure that our country’s vast generation resources […]
Kentucky’s largest utility wants to invest billions in new power plants. Here’s how to weigh in.
When Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities (LG&E and KU) filed an application in December to make significant changes to how it generates its electricity, the utility acknowledged the “unprecedented change” taking place with how the United States makes its power.? “Although there is room for disagreement concerning the precise timing and mechanisms by […]
$1 billion solar project planned on former Starfire coal mine in Eastern Kentucky
KNOTT COUNTY — It was a little over five years ago when Philip Marsh looked over the thousands of acres of reclaimed strip mine land he owned near the Knott County line and wouldn’t have a clue what would come of it. The Eastern Kentucky mountaintops that Marsh owned, now pastures after decades of coal […]
Winter is coming and the U.S. grid remains vulnerable to power plant failures
From winter storms to sweltering summer heat, there’s a consensus among experts that increasing extreme weather, a shifting electric generation mix, delays in getting new power generation projects connected and the difficulties in getting new transmission lines and other infrastructure built all pose an increasing risk to the grid. At U.S. Senate committee hearings as […]
EPA proposal could bring more scrutiny to toxic coal ash ponds, landfills in Kentucky
More ponds, landfills and impoundments in Kentucky containing the toxic byproducts of burning coal for electricity could come under federal oversight for water monitoring and cleanup under a proposal by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.? The EPA is seeking comment on the proposal from stakeholders and the public in an online hearing Wednesday and is […]