Kentucky
Policy priorities
Many Kentucky organizations and community members are working to advocate for fair energy policy in the state. These partnerships have influenced recent decisions by the Kentucky Public Service Commission, including the establishment of a fair process to determine the value of energy generated by customer-owned rooftop solar arrays.
Two organizations in particular – Kentuckians For The Commonwealth and Mountain Association – collaborate on many strategies to shape a just energy transition for rural electric cooperatives and the communities they serve. Both groups are active members of a statewide coalition, Kentuckians For Energy Democracy, and a national coalition called the Rural Power Coalition.
KFTC, Mountain Association, and several other groups are also intervenors in a case before the Kentucky Public Service Commission involving East Kentucky Power Cooperative’s Integrated Resource Plan. An IRP is a long-term energy plan which utility companies in Kentucky are required to update and submit every three years showing how they plan to generate and provide power over the next 15-years. The process offers advocacy groups the opportunity to question utilities’ assumptions and push for fair rate structures, energy efficiency programs that benefit ratepayers, and investments in renewable energy.
At a federal level, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth and Mountain Association help lead efforts of the Rural Power Coalition, which is working on policies to transform rural electric cooperatives and their communities by speeding the retirement of fossil fuel generation and investing in energy efficiency, renewable energy, broadband and energy-bill relief. Their work led to historic provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act which provide nearly $11 billion to support energy transition in rural co-ops and the communities they serve.
Movement spotlight: Mountain Association
Mountain Association has been working for nearly 50 years to build a new economy in Eastern Kentucky. As a Community Development Financial Institution, the organization offers solar and energy savings expertise to businesses and organizations, affordable business loans, and more. Mountain Association has created thousands of jobs, invested millions of dollars in small businesses and organizations, and significantly curbed carbon emissions in the region. In 2022 alone, Mountain Association helped secure $197,000 in energy funding for 16 businesses, created or saved 473 jobs and prevented 325 metric tons of carbon emissions from being generated through energy upgrades and renewables.
Kentucky Electric Co-op Scorecards:
Organizations from seven Southeastern states are taking a close look at the governance and services offered by their member-owned utilities. The Southeast Electric Co-op Scorecards project is an endeavor to rate electric cooperatives on their governance, energy efficiency, transition to renewable energy, modernization, and efforts to reduce the financial burdens on low-wealth members.
RESOURCES
Kentuckians for Energy Democracy
Kentuckians for Energy Democracy is a network of organizations working to ensure equitable and resilient utility systems that protect our health, environment and climate.
Kentuckians for the Commonwealth
a community of people, inspired by a vision, building new power and a better future for all of us.
Kentucky Resources Council
An organization that combines smart policy and legal advocacy to protect the commonwealth’s natural resources and ensure environmental justice for Kentucky’s most vulnerable people and communities.
Mountain Association
An organizations that invests in people and places in Eastern Kentucky to advance a just transition to a new economy that is more diverse, sustainable, equitable and resilient.