Fifteen KFTC members from across Kentucky, from Bowling Green to Whitesburg and Louisa to Louisville, gathered in Lexington to begin providing leadership for KFTC’s New Energy and Transition work, which includes our rural electric co-op reform, sustainable energy policy and organizing and Appalachian Transition campaigns.

KFTC’s Steering Committee decided earlier this year to more closely align these three projects, which have similar goals of promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy, passing clean energy legislation, transitioning away from our dependence on coal, creating new jobs, and saving money for low-income families.

Most of the folks in the room had been involved with one of the three campaigns. Participants got an overview of all three and will have the chance to choose a workteam that focuses on one of the three.

“It was exciting to see these different areas of KFTC work for a better, more sustainable future brought together so that we could learn from each other and understand how so much of our efforts are interrelated,” said Mimi Pickering, a long-time KFTC member from Whitesburg. “I think this is going to be a great way to organize and build momentum for a transition away from coal mining and burning to renewable energy and a just and sustainable economy in eastern Kentucky.”

Members discussed trends, opportunities and challenges to achieving a clean energy vision. Among the trends was the growing acceptance of energy efficiency, even among utilities and politicians who support the coal industry. Renewable energy, on the other hand, won’t gain a foothold unless it’s connected with economic development, members said.

Among the opportunities discussed was the Clean Energy Opportunity Act, which does connect renewable energy with economic development by proposing a Renewable and Efficiency Portfolio Standard (REPS) and a feed-in tariff that would create clean energy jobs and industries by requiring the state to meet benchmarks by a certain time. (Introduced in the Kentucky legislature in 2010 and 2011 by the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance, of which KFTC is a founding member, the bill has not passed but did get a favorable hearing in committee this year and will be re-introduced in 2012 with the hope of getting a vote).

A lack of public understanding of energy issues was listed as a challenge, as were Kentucky’s legislature and congressional delegation, which are reluctant to support anything they perceive might threaten the coal industry. Kentucky is behind surrounding states in passing legislation that encourages clean energy development and the jobs it would bring.

Members worked hard but also had fun getting to know each other and playing a game that focused on the “alphabet soup” of acronyms in the world of energy – such as "EE" for "energy efficiency" and "RE" for "renewable energy."