A renewed source of renewable energy

By Greg Kocher - gkocher1@herald-leader.com

Correction:

A June 29 story about the Mother Ann Lee Hydroelectric Station did not make clear that Salt River Electric Cooperative merely buys power from that station and does not benefit from its renewable energy credits.

PLEASANT HILL — The soggy June morning is gray and heavy, with the potential for more rain in Mercer County. But David Brown Kinloch grins as a few scattered drops pelt his noggin.

"They're like pennies dropping from heaven for us," he says. "During the summer I'll take every drop I can."

Rain is a precious commodity to Kinloch and his business partners, Bob Fairchild and David Coyte. They co-own and operate a small hydroelectric plant on Lock and Dam No. 7 near High Bridge on the Kentucky River. The plant generates enough power for nearly 2,000 homes.

Water pouring over the dam is important to the trio because that's what turns the turbines that generate electricity. But it's also important to consumers and to anyone else interested in non-polluting, renewable energy.

"Every year we do this, we're saving about 9 million pounds of coal from being burned and 18 million pounds of carbon dioxide from going up in the air," Kinloch said. "That seems worthwhile to me. Plus, the whole country, the whole world is going to have to move to renewable resources, and somebody has to start the way."

The plant was built in 1928. It's remarkable that it produces electricity at all because the structure's three generators had not produced anything for six years when Kentucky Utilities sold it in late 2005 to Lock 7 Hydro Partners LLC. Hydro Partners is a partnership between Shaker Landing Hydro Associates Inc. — the company owned by Kinloch and Coyte, both of Louisville, and Fairchild, of Berea — and Salt River Electric, a cooperative based in Bardstown.

The plant is named the Mother Ann Lee Hydroelectric Station, after the founder of the Shakers, the religious sect known for its ingenuity in the 1800s. The station is connected to the Kentucky Utilities grid near Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill.

The electricity generated by Mother Ann Lee is sold to Salt River Electric. Although the plant generates perhaps only about half of 1 percent of the electricity that the cooperative provides, Salt River Electric chief executive and president Larry Hicks said the project is worthwhile.

"We're always interested in getting environmentally friendly power, and also, it's economical," Hicks said. "So it's a no-brainer."

Although the amount produced is small, Hicks said, "I find ... that most of our sustainable improvements come in very small steps."

The Mother Ann Lee plant also makes money through the sale of renewable-energy credits. For every megawatt hour of electricity it generates, it can sell one renewable-energy credit. Each credit has a value — between $5 and $10 per megawatt hour — and is sold to E.On U.S., the parent company of KU and LG&E.

Customers who voluntarily participate in KU or LG&E's "Green Energy" program help to expand the growth of renewable energy serving Kentucky. Because renewable energy is more expensive to generate than burning coal, customers can voluntarily help supplement the cost difference by paying a little more on their bills.

KU residential and small-business customers can participate in increments of $5 and $13 a month for "blocks" of green energy. A portion of that goes to the Mother Ann Lee station to help it remain competitive. It's also a way for customers to shrink the amount of greenhouse gases produced in their day-to-day lives through the burning of coal for electricity. At the end of May, KU had 530 participants and LG&E had 867, said Cliff Feltham, a KU spokesman.

Companies are signing up for such programs, too. In May, Timberland Co., the New Hampshire-based outdoor-apparel firm, which has a Danville distribution center, became an official "KU Green Business" by offsetting 100 percent of the carbon emissions produced by the electricity used by the distribution center .