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BIG NEWS: The proposed Smith plant is delayed

by Sara Pennington last modified April-16-2010 07:22 PM

A quick and short note out to all our blog readers. A breaking story in the Lexington Herald Leader announces a success in our campaign to halt the proposed coal-burning Smith plant and bring energy efficiency and renewable energy programs instead to Kentucky's rural electric co-ops:

East Kentucky Power Delays Coal Plant

 

Read all about it at the Herald Leader.

In the detailed and wide-ranging article by Scott Sloan, the work of KFTC and our allies was lifted up:

The withdrawal of the request for financing approval is a major victory for environmental groups ... that have hammered the cooperative in recent years for embracing a project that they said was dangerous for Kentuckians because of the health effects of burning coal for electricity...

The groups, including Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, the Kentucky Environmental Foundation and the Sierra Club, have taken actions including commissioning studies showing that the proposed plant would be a major drain on finances and also filing suits to stop the construction process.

And it's great that the article mentions our work toward a solution:

Environmental groups have argued the cooperative would be better off spending money to educate customers about consuming less electricity and to also utilize more renewable sources of energy.

We'll have more soon. But now, time to celebrate that we can go full force on working to bring clean energy to eastern Kentucky's co-ops.

Hip, Hip, Hooray!

Posted by Lisa at April-17-2010 07:18 AM
This is fantastic news. Congrats to everyone who has worked so hard. We still have our work cut out for us to finish off this coal-burning power plant. There are permits to challenge and solutions to promote. And the project isn't dead yet, just put on hold. But we are winning. And the long-term effort to renew our co-ops has just begun!