Energy

Industry, clean power groups breathe a sigh of relief as Senate approves energy regulators?

BY: - June 14, 2024

Three nominees by President Joe Biden to serve on the nation’s top energy regulatory panel, which had risked losing a quorum, were approved this week by the U.S. Senate. The vote to approve the new members — two Democrats and a Republican — for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was cheered by industry, renewable power […]

21 states join Biden administration in bid to modernize nation’s aging grid

BY: - May 29, 2024

Twenty-one states, including Kentucky, are joining a push by the Biden administration to modernize America’s aging electric grid, which is under pressure from growing demand, a changing power generation mix that includes lots of wind and solar and severe weather. The administration, which has set a goal of a carbon-free power sector by 2035, announced […]

New solar will help keep power on during scorching summer, report says

BY: - May 28, 2024

With some parts of the country already facing heat waves, the organization in charge of setting reliability standards for the American electric grid is warning that a scorching summer could lead to a shortage of power generation in some regions. The warning comes as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there’s a 99% chance […]

Bernheim Forest appeals to Kentucky Supreme Court to stop pipeline in conservation easement

BY: - May 20, 2024

The Bernheim Forest and Arboretum is asking Kentucky’s highest court to take up a legal battle over condemnation of some of its land to build a gas pipeline. In April, the Kentucky Court of Appeals affirmed a ruling last year from the Bullitt Circuit Court that said Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities (LG&E […]

Power plant debate helps push lobby spending to new high for Kentucky legislature

BY: - May 20, 2024

FRANKFORT — Legislation affecting power plant retirements helped drive spending to lobby the Kentucky legislature to a new high of $12.4 million during the 2024 session. A bill that created new hurdles for utilities that want to retire power plants fired by fossil fuels spurred investor-owned utilities and power cooperatives to spend much more than […]

Biden administration proposes ending future federal coal leasing in Powder River Basin

BY: - May 17, 2024

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Thursday released plans to end future leasing of its managed coal resources in the Powder River Basin in eastern Montana and northeastern Wyoming in a move that has angered Montana’s Republican political leaders but is being cheered by environmental groups who fought for changes to leasing plans over […]

New federal rule will overhaul transmission planning as electric grid strains

BY: - May 14, 2024

A divided Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Monday issued a long-awaited overhaul of how regional electric transmission lines are planned and paid for, a move cheered by clean power groups but blasted by a conservative commissioner who said it was driven by “special interests” and exceeds the commission’s authority. The commission’s final rule on transmission […]

Kentucky’s Coleman joins other GOP attorneys general in challenging Biden power plant rules

BY: - May 10, 2024

Kentucky’s chief law enforcement officer has joined Republican attorneys general from 24 other states in challenging new federal rules aimed at curbing water pollution and nearly all greenhouse gas emissions from existing coal-fired power plants and newly constructed gas-fired power plants. A news release from Kentucky Republican Attorney General Russell Coleman on Thursday said the […]

In some parts of the U.S., the grid of the future might be closer than you think

BY: - May 9, 2024

A little more than two years ago, a clean energy record was broken. For the first time, a regional transmission organization met more than 90% of its electric demand, called load, with renewable power. But if you don’t follow the electric industry closely, you might be surprised where it happened. On March 29, 2022, Southwest […]

Avalanche of aid could help Kentuckians reinvent mountain economy

BY: - May 2, 2024

CORBIN — Eastern Kentucky is about to get an avalanche of federal and state money to help it transition from its largely disappeared coal economy, but some of its towns are already lifting themselves up and setting examples for the region. That was the upshot of the 36th annual East Kentucky Leadership Conference in Corbin, […]

Kentucky AG gets funding to fight Biden administration on climate, air and water pollution rules

BY: - April 29, 2024

When Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman told state lawmakers in January about the budget needs of his office, Rep. Patrick Flannery, R-Olive Hill, asked if he needed more resources to address a “regulatory avalanche” regarding a “green agenda” coming from the federal government.? Coleman, a Republican, said his office would welcome them, saying there was […]

New federal rules aim to clean up toxic coal ash, including nearly a dozen sites in Kentucky

BY: - April 26, 2024

Kentucky is one of a minority of states that produces most of its electricity by burning coal. A byproduct of that legacy today: creating millions of tons of what’s known as coal ash, a waste from burning coal containing a slew of toxic metals that’s often stored by utilities and power producers in impoundment ponds […]