Stop Smith Campaign Gains Momentum

Two of the four main objectives set out for KFTC’s Stop Smith campaign in 2009 were:

• <!--[if !supportLists]-->To oppose the permits for the Smith plant, and


• <!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]-->To build a movement of Kentuckians working for energy efficiency and clean energy solutions in the rural electric co-ops.

In recent weeks, KFTC members have really ramped up action in these areas and the momentum behind these objectives continues to build. This progress can be seen in the media and in the actions of the regulatory agencies.

A little background: At the end of October, KFTC and our allies the Kentucky Environmental Foundation and the Sierra Club along with individual co-op members Wendell Berry, Father John Rausch, and Dr. John Patterson challenged the Kentucky Public Service Commission’s original approval that allowed the East Kentucky Power Cooperative move forward with its plans to build the coal-burning Smith plant. This approval from the PSC is called the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity and it was last granted to EKPC for the Smith plant in 2007. The petition before the PSC made three major claims, that: <!--[endif]-->

• The Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity was invalid because EKPC hadn’t started construction on the Smith plant within a year as is required by Kentucky Statutes.


• The Certificate should be revoked because EKPC would not be receiving low-interest funding from the federal government. Projects that receive such funding didn’t need PSC approval for that funding. However, now that the federal government isn’t issuing loans for coal-fired power plants, EKPC will need further PSC approval for any private funding it seeks. Under the Certificate, EKPC hadn’t received this PSC approval for private funding.


• Simply, the world had changed significantly since the PSC issued the Certificate. Since the original approval was given, a host of factors have changed. For example, EKPC’s financial health has deteriorated, environmental regulations have tightened, the cost of alternatives to coal power have decreased, etc.

Once the groups and co-op members filed their petition before the PSC, members of KFTC and our allied groups began bombarding the Attorney General’s office with requests for them to weigh in on the side of the ratepayers in this case. More than 400 folks sent messages to the AG’s office. KFTC members followed up on these emails with an in-person meeting. Once again, members asked the office to weigh in on the side of ratepayers.

In addition to emails to the Attorney General, KFTC members have flooded state and local newspapers with letters to the editor and op-eds. Dozens of letters in support of our case, asking the Attorney General to weigh in and the PSC to make the right decision, have been published. From Danville, to Winchester, to Lexington and beyond, KFTC members have been informing their neighbors and exerting public pressure to stop the Smith plant from being built. And this public pressure is beginning to pay off.

In December, the Lexington Herald Leader editorialized on the issue, demonstrating their understanding of the full breadth of the petition before the PSC. They wrote:

A group of Kentuckians who are rural electric cooperative members are petitioning the PSC to revoke its approval of the Smith 1 plant. They are concerned about the harm to air, water and human health from another large coal-burning plant.

But they also cite what outside financial analysts and EKPC's own executives say about the utility's deteriorating financial condition and the risk to consumers from taking on even more debt to finance the project.

They acknowledged that "consumers will pay for [EKPC’s] shaky finances and deep debt in the form of higher electricity bills.â€ They conclude their editorial with the call similar to that which KFTC and our allies have made. They wrote, "Both the utility and PSC should examine and re-examine the demand projections. If it's possible to substitute aggressive conservation for a new power plant, this would be the time to do it."

Later on the same day that the Herald Leader published their editorial, the Public Service Commission issued an order in the case. While the PSC dismissed KFTC and the other groups from the case, and dismissed the first two of the claims listed above, they ordered that the case should go forward with the three individual co-op members, and that EKPC would have to answer to the claims that the world has changed. As the headline in the newspaper put it: "PSC orders East Kentucky Power to justify Clark Co. plant.â€ In early January, EKPC responded to the seven points the PSC allowed to go forward, and now the ball is back in the PSC’s court. There is no set timeline, but the PSC will review EKPC’s responses and make a decision.

So, while we have momentum, this part of our campaign is far from over. There continue to be multiple venues for the intervention of members and groups in the PSC approval process, and we must continue to call on the Attorney General’s office to step up and step out on the side of the ratepayers. A continued stream of letters in local and state papers may help convince him to listen to the ratepayers who will be most affected by the PSC’s decision, and to speak before the Commission on their behalf. Continued public pressure to encourage these decision makers to make the right decisions for co-op members and for all Kentuckians is needed as much now as ever.

For more information on submitting a letter to the editor or contacting the Attorney General’s office this issue, contact [email protected] or call (606) 276-9933.