Utilities propose Kentucky’s largest solar power array, mostly for Toyota and Dow
The amount of solar energy produced in Kentucky would increase dramatically under a plan announced Thursday.
Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities said they have asked state regulators to approve contracts to buy power from a 100-megawatt solar facility in Hardin County.
The array has not been built but would be ready to use by 2022 under the deal, according to an application filed with the state Public Service Commission.
The array would be the largest solar generator in the state.
The biggest one now is a 10-megawatt facility at LG&E and KU’s E.W. Brown Generating Station in Mercer County, said Chris Whelan, spokeswoman for the utilities.
East Kentucky Power Cooperative operates a solar facility with a capacity of 8.5 megawatts at its headquarters in Clark County.
LG&E and KU said the project involving the planned 100-megawatt facility was a response to customers’ desire for power from renewable sources.
Under the proposal filed with the PSC, LG&E and KU would buy all the power from the solar facility, then sell half of it to the Toyota plant in Georgetown and 25 percent of it to the Dow Silicones Corporation plant in Carrollton.
The rest would be available for other customers.
Toyota and Dow approached the utilities with an interest in buying electricity from renewable sources, according to their application to the PSC.
“As we continue to evolve with our customers’ increased demands for renewable energy, we are partnering with them to create customized solutions, as we’ve done in this case, to help them grow and prosper in the Commonwealth, which in turn creates economic vitality for our communities and residents,” said David Sinclair, vice president of energy supply and analysis for LG&E and KU.
The utilities issued a request early last year for proposals to buy up to 200 megawatts of power from renewable sources.
Of the 16 companies that responded, a company called Rhudes Creek Solar, owned by ibV Energy Partners, offered the lowest-cost flat price per kilowatt hour, LG&E and KU told the Public Service Commission.
The price LG&E and KU would pay for the power from the solar facility over the 20-year contract “compares favorably” to the cost of power generated from coal and natural gas, the utilities said in their application.
The amount the utilities will pay for the electricity was redacted from the application.
That document also indicated the power purchased from the solar facility could reduce costs for customers by displacing higher-cost energy.
More use of solar will also help reduce the utilities carbon-dioxide emissions.
Coal-plant emissions are a key source of carbon dioxide that traps heat in the atmosphere and contributes to climate change.
The two utilities generate 80 percent of their electricity from coal and 19 percent from natural gas, up from just 1 percent in 2009, Whelan said.
That ratio won’t change much as a result of the new solar array.
Sinclair said in testimony submitted to the PSC that LG&E and KU now buy 12.5 million tons of coal a year.
Power from the solar provider would displace between 66,000 and 101,000 tons of coal, he said.
LG&E and KU together serve nearly 1 million customers in more than 80 Kentucky counties, including Fayette.
