Report: Power diversity could pay off big for Kentucky

Local News

January 18, 2012

By Tom Joseph Kentucky News Connection The Richmond Register Wed Jan 18, 2012, 08:00 AM EST

BEREA — More jobs, greater economic activity and utility-bill savings for customers are all byproducts of investing in clean energy in Kentucky over the next decade. That’s according to a new study that examines the effects of the Clean Energy Opportunity Act — House Bill 167, introduced in the Kentucky House — if it becomes law.

Those effects could be substantial, according to Kristin Tracz, who represents the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED) of Berea, the group that released the report.

“It specifically shows that 28,000 net new jobs are possible; between 8 to 10 percent reduction in average electric bills; it can create $1.5 billion in additional contributions to the gross state product,” Tracz said.

The bill would require that utilities in Kentucky get 12.5 percent of their electricity from renewable energy, and achieve more than 10 percent savings from energy efficiency efforts by 2022, requirements whose effects are included in the report, she said.

“So, it’s a bill that starts small and ends reasonable,” Tracz said. “It’s a 10-year plan to start to transition utilities in Kentucky to a more diversified energy portfolio, and a cleaner energy portfolio.”

Pro-coal advocates point to cheap power and job creation as reasons to keep coal in the picture, but Tracz said the report found the dollars Kentucky could spend making the transition to cleaner power sources will go further than a future still dependent on coal.

“The contributions that coal has paid to our economy have been significant, but the average coal plant in Kentucky is 47 years old,” she said. “We are facing aging infrastructure, and we have a lot of costs associated with modernizing our power infrastructure.”

The study was done by Synapse Energy Economics, which specializes in energy, economic and environmental topics. It predicts that energy costs will rise even if the state does nothing.

Tracz says the report mirrors the benefits that neighboring states such as Ohio and North Carolina have reaped by passing similar legislation.

See the full report at www.maced.org

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Report: Power diversity could pay off big for Kentucky

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