Kentucky leaders should position state, EKY for more new energy opportunity...

New energy – wind, solar and efficiency – is a huge opportunity for eastern Kentucky right now. That is, if our leaders are willing to take advantage of it. Energy will be a hot topic during the Kentucky General Assembly, which is now getting into full swing. That’s especially true in light of a growing need to develop a clean energy plan to comply with the federal Clean Power Plan, released last year. As the Lexington Herald-Leader reports: “Utilities went on a wind and solar building binge in 2015, The Washington Post reports, while stock prices for both industries surged after Congress extended tax credits for renewables in last month’s spending deal. Coal company values, by contrast, have fallen steeply, setting the stage for more bankruptcies and layoffs. Despite a glut of cheap fossil fuels, 60 percent of new investment in power plants is going into renewables, reports the International Energy Agency.” All of this growth in new energy brings jobs with it, too, according to the Herald-Leader:  Between 2008 and 2012, more U.S. jobs were created in wind and solar (79,000 direct and indirect) than lost in the coal industry (49,530), according to a Duke University study. We in eastern Kentucky know what it’s been like for the coal industry the last couple of years as the industry has slid into collapse. We know and feel the loss of jobs and economy and community that’s happened as a result. If there is an option for us to build up our clean energy infrastructure in a way...

Grayson Rural Electric Cooperative installs solar system, first in EKY to do so...

By: Ivy Brashear Customers of Grayson Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation (RECC) can now see something new, and perhaps surprising, when they drive up to the RECC’s headquarters in Grayson, Ky.: a newly installed solar electric system. The 10.8 kW solar photovoltaic (PV) system, which Grayson RECC installed as a demonstration and educational project, stands in stark modern contrast to the historic former home to a prominent family, the Bagbys, that houses the Grayson RECC offices. But Grayson executives are keen to keep up with trends in electric generation for their customers’ sake. “As things change and we grow, we have to embrace new technologies,” Grayson RECC CEO Carol Ann Fraley said at the solar electric system’s grand opening. “We think [solar] is one that our members are very interested in, and want to know more about. And we thought what better place [to locate the system] than right in sight of the parking lot.” Grayson RECC worked with the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED) to take advantage of a one-time grant provided by MACED that provided some support to purchase and install the PV system. The grant money Grayson RECC used was earmarked for small-scale energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in eastern Kentucky. The grant was not one that could be applied for; MACED had to nominate projects to receive funds. Projects had to meet several criteria to be nominated, including meaningful impact on the community and high visibility. Preference was given to valuable MACED partners...

Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition student reflects on time at annual Fancy Farm picnic...

Editor’s Note: In an effort to include a more diverse and varied set of voices in the Appalachian Transition conversation, Renew Appalachia will begin featuring posts from guest bloggers on a semi-regular basis. The following is the first blog in that effort. It is important to note that the views and opinions expressed in this guest blogs do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Renew Appalachia or of the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED). On August 2, members of the Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition from across the state attended the Fancy Farm picnic. We knew it was going to be loud, festive, and very pro-coal in tone, which was precisely why we went. Our KSEC advisors, Tyler [Offerman] and Cara [Cooper] built a wind turbine out of a used bicycle frame mounted on PVC pipe. Attached to our wind turbine was the sign “If Only Kentucky Ran on Hot Air!” Our plan was to crank the wind turbine whenever a politician said something ill-informed, although after our arms got tired we soon decided to only crank the windmill if the statement was particularly vapid or related to coal or climate change. I think that helped a little. We arrived in two cars with plenty of signs and a game plan in mind. We were going to collect signatures for our petition supporting the Clean Energy Opportunities Act to increase funding for alternative energy sources in Kentucky. Then we were going to use those signatures when election season came up to...

Energy Efficiency has big potential to create jobs, decrease electricity demand...

MACED’s second strategy brief, “Energy Efficiency,” is out today. It’s a strategy that’s been gaining steam recently across eastern Kentucky, and one that MACED has touted for years through its How$martKY and Energy Efficient Enterprises programs. Among all the strategies MACED will discuss in its strategy brief series, energy efficiency perhaps has the greatest potential right now for large impact because of its current trajectory. From the brief: Sixty-seven percent of homes in Appalachian Kentucky were built before 1990, and 25 percent are mobile homes. This creates an enormous opportunity for energy efficiency retrofits to create jobs and save ratepayers money. Studies have shown that investments in energy efficiency across all of Appalachia could create 77,000 jobs and save more than $21 billion in energy costs. This opportunity and need will continue to grow as rates rise. Amazing things are already happening in the energy sector in eastern Kentucky that have great promise: the expansion of How$martKY, utilities increasing efficiency programs, post-secondary schools across the region increasing energy efficiency and renewable energy classes. But, as MACED points out in its brief,  much more could be done to maximize the impact of energy efficiency, including investing more in energy efficiency programs to bring them to scale and passing legislation that supports energy efficiency, like the Clean Energy Opportunity Act. Eastern Kentucky has led the nation in energy production for decades, and while that era in the region is swiftly coming to an end, a new age of being an energy efficiency...

There’s Precedent for the Transition Assistance Eastern Kentucky Needs...

The new power plant rules proposed this week will make coal less competitive in the coming decades. It’s just one factor pointing toward continued decline in eastern Kentucky coal production, the main causes of which are the rising cost of Central Appalachian coal as the dwindling resource is harder to access and the drop in natural gas prices due to fracking. Coal’s further decline in the region spells more economic trouble for eastern Kentucky. That’s on top of being one of the nation’s poorest regions even when coal was booming. When policies and other factors cause serious economic problems for a region or group of Americans, there is precedent for federal investments to help workers and communities adjust and transition. There’s even precedent in eastern Kentucky–the Appalachian Regional Commission was created in 1963 as a response to the region’s persistent poverty in a nation of growing abundance. But the ARC’s non-highway budget has declined dramatically from its peak of over $1.2 billion in today’s dollars in the mid-1970s to well south of $100 million today, money which it spreads over 13 states. Some small new federal investments have been announced for eastern Kentucky since the Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) initiative was launched, but much more is needed to transition an economy that has seen its coal jobs reduced by half in the last three years. Other precedents for federal investments to support economic transition include: The Trade Adjustment Assistance program, established in 1962, which provides services and supports...

Microsoft Hohm: Finding Cost Savings for Homeowners

Across America homeowners are increasingly interested in ways to understand and manage their home energy costs. Building on this momentum, Microsoft recently unveiled its Hohm software , which allows homeowners to understand the energy use of their homes, compare to neighbors, and discover opportunities to save money on utility bills by lowering their energy usage. Unlike Google’s Power Meter which uses actual information garnered from utility smart meters and energy monitoring devices, Hohm takes information from a few simple questions – including your zip code, the size of your home, and the year it was built – to provide an overview of annual energy usage and estimated energy costs. Hohm then generates a free energy report based on your answers. The report can help identify ways to make your home more energy efficient, estimating what your potential cost savings may be by investing in efficiency improvements. The Hohm service is free, though it only connects automatically to actual electricity usage data for 4 million customers on the West Coast as of yet. Homes outside this service are receive energy reports drawing on averages rather than property-specific information. According to the Hohm database, a typical home in Berea, Kentucky can save up to $1,736 each year—achieved mostly through reduction in heating costs, likely from better insulation and efficient windows. The potential for improvements in efficiency and cost is particularly great throughout Central Appalachia. This map shows that Central Appalachia in particular, and the Southeast more generally, has some of the...

New Funding Opportunities for EE/RE Advancement

Several funding opportunities in the fields of energy efficiency and renewable energy are currently available! See below for details: EE/RE JOB TRAINING FUNDS: Kentucky Home Performance is offering incentives to contractors who participate in an upcoming training to become certified through the national Building Performance Institute. The training will be held May 24th-26th in Louisville. In order to be eligible to work as a contractor doing EE/RE on residential properties through the Ky Home Performance program, you must be BPI-certified. Training incentives include: • $1,000 available for up to 80% of the cost of training & certification to obtain BPI training for Building Analyst Certification for the first 100 contractors or home auditors trained under the program • $2,000 available for equipment purchases up to 80% of the cost of qualified equipment for the first 50 contractors or companies participating in the KY Home Performance program. Terms and conditions apply. Visit www.kyhomeperformance.org for more information.   EE/RE ENERGY PROJECT FUNDS: The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is a regional economic development agency that represents a partnership of federal, state, and local government. ARC just announced the fourth round of a grant competition this week to assist Appalachian communities in leveraging renewable-energy and energy-efficiency resources to revitalize their economies. ARC expects to provide eight to ten awards of up to $75,000 each, for a total of $545,000 in awards, to successful applicants. Aims of the grants may include – • Preparation and adoption of a community energy plan by a local...

Federal Legislation Would Enable Some Rural Residents to Afford Energy Efficiency Improvements...

The Rural Energy Savings Program Act (S. 3102 / H.R. 4785) On March 10, 2010, the Rural Energy Savings Program Act was introduced in Congress. The bill was introduced in both the House and the Senate with bipartisan support. Under the new program proposed by the bill, the US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) will create a $4.9 billion loan program available to cooperatives with a zero percent interest rate. Cooperatives in turn will make this money available to consumer members in the form of micro-loans with an interest rate of no more than 3 percent, which can be paid back primarily through savings on their electric bills. This type of loan program is called “on-bill financing” because the loan payments would be made right on the utility bill. Another key component is that the loan would stay with the real property (i.e. the electric meter) rather than with the utility customer. Bipartisan co-sponsors of the Senate version of the bill (S. 3102) include Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tim Johnson (D-SD), and Michael Bennett (D-CO). A companion bill in the House of Representatives (H.R. 4785), was introduced by Representatives James Clyburn (D-SC), Tom Perriello (D-VA), Ed Whitfield (R-KY), and John Spratt (D-SC). The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is supporting the two bills, and you can find more information on their website. Why this bill is important and its implications for Appalachia An important step to achieving a...