Randy's Campaign: Building New Power in Eastern Kentucky

Last Wednesday evening, KFTC member Randy Wilson learned that he had gathered more than enough signatures on his petition to get on the ballot for Jackson Energy’s board of directors. During that petition-gathering which took place in Clay County (Randy’s home county and part of the district he would represent as a director), KFTC folks from eastern and central Kentucky pitched in to help gather more than 700 signatures. Neither drizzle nor sunburns nor getting asked to leave grocery store parking lots could keep folks away from helping Randy reach his goal of getting on the ballot and of having great conversations about energy efficiency and what the rural electric co-op can be doing to help folks with their bills.

Randy wants to make sure everyone who came to help out knows of his gratitude, from Rockcastle County to Whitesburg to places in-between. He is truly thankful to those who were able to come out on the weekends and give of their time to share his vision of a clean energy future for Jackson Energy and Kentucky with his neighbors and his county.

However, the thank-yous aren’t over: between now and June 27, which is Jackson Energy’s annual meeting and when the election for the board of directors will take place, there will be several opportunities to come out to the counties served by Jackson Energy and help Randy campaign. There will be campaign canvassing on the following days. The Jackson Energy service area includes Clay, Estill, Lee, Owsley, Laurel, Jackson, Rockcastle and a small part of Leslie county. There will be at least three campaign locations each day:

• Saturday, June 6


• Sunday, June 7


• Saturday, June 13


• Sunday, June 14


• Saturday, June 20


• Friday, June 26

And on Saturday, June 27, KFTC folks are invited to Jackson Energy’s annual meeting just outside McKee, KY, to help with on-the-ground campaigning and to continue having great conversations about clean energy with the thousands of folks that will attend the meeting.

If you are interested in helping out with Randy's campaign in any way, including campaigning on one of the dates above, contact Sara Pennington (New Power Campaign Organizer) at 606-276-9933 or [email protected].

The interactions Randy had while gathering signatures encouraged him to continue with his campaign and showed that rural electric co-op customers are hungry for good energy choices that will help provide them with clean, affordable energy.

On the first day of petition gathering, in the parking lot of a local grocery store, Randy met a man in Leslie county, living in mobile home in a tight holler, who was working toward his own clean energy future. He has insulated his trailer and installed solar panels so that he now gets most of his electricity from solar. After that meeting, Randy visited Elijah and recorded his story for WMMT’s "Kids’ Radio." Randy called that show "Solar in the Holler.â€ This inspiring story is a must-listen for those who have heard one too many times that there’s just not enough sunlight in eastern Kentucky to go solar:

• Click here to visit WMMT’s page to listen to streaming audio online.


• Click here to download and MP3 of the program.

In addition to meeting Elijah, Randy has already made and re-made wonderful connections during this campaign. Randy shares this report from one of the first days of the petition-gathering, words that truly speak to the potential of building New Power in eastern—and throughout—Kentucky:

I went home and canvassed my neighborhood. I ran into one of my neighbors who teaches school in Leslie County.  She says she has run into several families in Leslie County who are going solar…She said she was looking at solar, too. ‘I just want to be independent.  I don't want to beholding to nobody, you know what I mean?’ 

[T]his day with my neighbors has been important. I got fed soup beans, another promised me a stand of honey bees, another promised to adjust my water meter, another wanted me to loan him a dulcimer, another showed me how to take pictures of game in the woods, another told me of RECC payment plans…And it began to dawn on me that the answers may not be out there at MIT or some capital ventures in California.  Most of the answers may be right here where we are.