KFTC members call on PSC to stop unneccesary coal-burning power plant

KFTC members took action today to stop a proposed coal-burning power plant in Central Kentucky along the Kentucky River.  KFTC, along with our friends at the Sierra Club and Kentucky Environmental Foundation, filed a formal petition asking the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) to revoke East Kentucky Power Cooperative's approval for a proposed "Smith" coal-burning plant in Clark County.

Our petition to the PSC contends that the proposed Smith plant is an unnecessary and unreasonable risk to ratepayers and asked that the EKPC's "Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity" be revoked. We are encouraging EKPC to shift to cleaner, more affordable energy solutions.

"This petition to the PSC is a legal strategy that is part of a much broader strategy to persuade EKPC to do something good for the 500,000 co-op customers and the rest of us in Kentucky," said Madison County KFTC member Steve Boyce during a media tele-conference this morning.  "We are working hard to point out the opportunities and the need for EKPC to make a transition to cleaner, less expensive forms of energy. Those half million customers need to be able to rely on EKPC and the Kentucky Public Service Commission to look out for their best interests.”

EKPC's cost of power to members increased by 70% from 2002 to 2008, according to figures in its 2008 annual report.  The cost of building the Smith plant has increased 44% since EKPC received its certificate in 2006.  Building the pricey Smith plant will saddle the utility and its ratepayers with nearly one billion dollars more in debt. This is a path that rural electric cooperative customers cannot afford to go down, especially when less costly strategies exist.

In addition, EKPC's claim for needing the new plant is based on highly inflated energy demand projections. Four years later, EKPC has revised their own estimates for the next 20 years down by nearly 12%.  This is almost as much energy as the Smith plant would produce. 

"The substance of our complaint is that, as things presently stand, nobody can be fully assured that this project makes sense," said Kentucky author and Shelby Energy co-op customer Wendell Berry who joined the petition as a named plaintiff. "Certificates such as this one have become too much a matter of routine. Inertia at this time is indefensible," he added.

Father John Rausch, a Clark Energy customer and Glenmary priest who lives 10 miles away from the proposed site, also joined the petition as a plaintiff. “I must remind EKPC of its purpose. Corporations make profits for their shareholders. Cooperatives serve the interests of their members.”

Relevant Studies:

• A 2009 report that shows how EKPC could invest in green energy and weatherization instead of the proposed Smith plant and create nearly 9,000 jobs across the state.  Click here to read the report.
• Another 2009 report, "The Right Decision for Changing Times:  How EKPC ratepayers benefit from canceling plans for a new coal burning power plant in Clark County" by TR Rose Associates, gives a detailed picture of the savings that EKPC could reach if they abandoned plans to build Smith.  Read the report by clicking here.

Stay tuned for more information about the status of our petition and how you can get involved to help stop the proposed coal plant!