"This has been a great meeting and an opportunity for me to learn some things I didn't know," said KFTC member John Harrod to the group gathered in Morehead on the evening of April 9 for the Rural Electric Cooperative Public Forum. "I am encouraged and optimistic about our prospects for moving forward with energy saving ideas and more use of renewable energy sources."

The Public Forum was held as part of the Clean Energy Collaborative, in which KFTC participates along with other public interest groups, the local rural electric co-ops, and the East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC). The mission of the Collaborative is to review and recommend energy efficiency and renewable energy actions to EKPC, and to promote collaboration among all the parties in implementation of these ideas.

The Public Forum focused on energy efficiency and was definitely a collaborative effort. It began with presentations from key EKPC and co-op staff along with KFTC members and others. Rowan County KFTC member Sue Tallichet presented on the important reason for increasing energy-savings programs: they reduce the need for building costly new power plants and, thus, help to stabilize electric rates. The Forum was emceed by KFTC member Tona Barkley and David Crews of EKPC.

Attendees also learned about three energy efficiency programs--Button-Up, How$martKY, and $impleSaver--before breaking into small focus group to give the co-ops feedback on how they might better implement existing and new energy-savings programs. The conversations were hearty and eye-opening, and both co-op members and co-op staff learned much.

"I found out that our home qualifies for three programs that I didn't know about before, all things I had been trying to figure out how to do anyway," said Harrod. "The co-ops are living up to their name as cooperative enterprises between the managers and the members."

The results from the focus groups were presented at the most recent Collaborative meeting, and a great discussion ensued about how to use the feedback and findings from the members to improve the co-ops' energy saving programs.

John Harrod has good reason to be optimistic. "I think these ideas are going to take hold and spread as more people see their friends and neighbors saving energy, using renewables, and saving money in the long term."

Floyd and Knott County KFTC members have been busy preparing for the 3rd Annual Growing Appalachia conference this Saturday at the Jenny Wiley Convention Center in Prestonsburg, Kentucky.  The day will feature a range of workshops for the beginner and experienced alike on topics from small-scale farming and forestry to energy efficiency and solar applications. Wednesday Floyd County members Nathan Hall and Todd Howard and Knott County member, Fern Nafziger took to the airwaves on WMMT's "Mountain Talk" to be guests on a special "Growing Appalachia" edition!

Mary Love and Rick Hornby (author of Synapse study about the economic impact of HB 167)

Legislators heard testimony today about the benefits of the Clean Energy Opportunity Act (HB 167) during a hearing before the House Tourism Development and Energy Committee. KFTC members and our allies in the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance have made HB 167 a high priority, and many were on hand in the packed committee room to show support. Although no vote was taken, the hearing was an important opportunity to inform legislators and build support for the future.

Bill sponsor Rep. Mary Lou Marzian introduced the bill, noting, "Thank you for allowing us to bring this important issue for discussion. This is a piece of legislation about job creation in Kentucky. Twenty-nine other states have passed this kind of policy that is called a renewable and efficiency portfolio standard. These policies have been shown to stabilize rates and create jobs. And those would be jobs that could stay in Kentucky."

Rick Hornby of Synapse Energy Economics presented a summary of a report his firm recently did about the potential economic impact of HB 167 on jobs and electricity rates in Kentucky over the next 10 years. "Kentucky is facing an electricity challenge. A number of utilities are looking at retrofitting some coal-fired plants. Some are planning to retire coal plants. Some of those retirements will be replaced with new generation, largely natural gas. Our study projects that Kentucky is looking at increases in average electricity supply costs on the order of 50%. Adding renewable energy and energy efficiency to your mix will help Kentucky turn this challenge into an opportunity. As I say, it will help. There is no silver bullet."

Hornby touched on several highlights of the Synapse report, including:

• The energy efficiency and renewable energy requirements contained in HB 167 could generate 28,000 net new jobs over the next 10 years.
• Under any scenario – whether this bill passes or it doesn't – utility rates in Kentucky are going to go up significantly.
• Average electric bills in Kentucky are projected to be 8-10% lower at the end of 10 years as a result of HB 167 than they would be under a business-as-usual scenario.

Chris Woolery, who works with the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED), also testified in support of the measure. "I'm one of those contractors that could definitely have benefited from legislation like this. As a former Energy Star home-builder, I learned about the importance of energy efficiency. Then when the market crashed I went into energy retrofit work."

Woolery described his job doing home energy audits and retrofits in eastern Kentucky. "I'm now working with How$mart Kentucky. We work with four rural electric co-operatives in eastern Kentucky to do on-bill financing for energy improvements. With these co-ops we do whole house audits and energy upgrades, and we create a savings that the customer uses to pay for the improvements."

Woolery described some of the results of the How$mart program in the past year:

• reached customers in 23 counties.
  
• retrofitted 57 houses.
  
• saving people 25-37% on their bills.
• savings of $550 per year on average per family.

David Brown Kinloch and Josh Bills

Over 40% of the families the program has worked with are low to moderate income.

David Brown Kinloch, a renewable energy developer in Kentucky, also spoke before the committee. He emphasized the importance of a portion of the bill – called a feed-in tariff – that is designed to spur  investment in renewable energy projects. "A feed-in tariff will allow companies like mine to finance projects and sell power into the grid here in Kentucky. There is tremendous opportunity in Kentucky, and this bill just allows that opportunity to be harvested."

The testimony generated a number of comments and questions from members of the Tourism Development and Energy Committee. Chairwoman Leslie Combs from Pike County voiced concern about the troubling projections that utility rates are projected to rise steeply under any scenario.

"Consumers are consistently concerned about the fact that their rates are going up, today," she stated. "They don't want their rates to go up any more, and if anything they would like them to come down. But according to this chart, under any scenario, the rates go up. Period. I realize that's kind of the way things are, but at the same time it's hard to explain to the consumers who are saying, 'stop raising our rates.'

Hornby acknowledged that difficult reality. "I very much understand. It would be nice to be able to come in and say that. But the numbers are the numbers. Kentucky has a big challenge. Over the next several years, no matter what, your rates are going to go up by some amount. What efficiency and renewables can do is give your ratepayers some ability to respond to those increases. If you use less, your bill won't go up as much even as rates rise, and we are going to help you use less."

Rep. Keith Hall from Pike County concluded the testimony on HB 167 with a note of praise. "I want to commend Rep. Marzian for bringing this measure before the committee. And to the gentleman who spoke about energy efficiency, that's a very good program. This has been a very worthwhile conversation, and I want to commend the Madam Chairperson for having it."

Video from the hearing

More than 60 citizen lobbyists came to Frankfort on Tuesday to talk to legislators about the promise of clean energy.

The Clean Energy Lobby Day was hosted by the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance (KySEA), a coalition of 52 organizations working to pass clean energy policy that would stem rising energy rates and create thousands of new jobs. In addition to grassroots organizations like KFTC, a founding member, KySEA includes small businesses, faith communities, housing groups, and even individuals.

Meeting with more than 50 different legislators, participants discussed House Bill 167, the Clean Energy Opportunity Act. Sponsored by Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, the bill would establish benchmarks for increasing the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency in Kentucky over the next ten years. It would also establish payment rates for renewable energy to encourage renewable energy industries to locate in Kentucky and create new jobs.

Many surrounding states have already passed such measures, and new jobs in clean energy are going to Ohio and North Carolina instead of Kentucky.

EKU students John Bowers and Emily Justus lobbied for the first time. Justus, a native of Pike County, said she came to Frankfort to “show our support and learn about the whole process.”

Bowers of Berea said, “I’m very much for clean energy. I think that’s the wave of the future and the direction we need to go.”

The Clean Energy Opportunity Act is assigned to the House Tourism, Development and Energy Committee. One strategy of the lobby day was to press for the bill to get a hearing, and we learned today that our efforts were successful. The bill will get a hearing in committee in the next few weeks!

Here is a great example of what New Power looks like in Kentucky!

that makes energy efficiency upgrades affordable and doable for customers of rural electric co-ops in eastern Kentucky. The video describes how the Big Sandy Rural Electric Cooperative is helping its customers in Floyd and Johnson counties save money by saving energy.

How$martKY - Energy Efficiency for Everyone from Appalshop CMI on Vimeo.

How$mart is an innovative way to finance energy efficiency upgrades. Designed by the good folks at the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED), it is a currently in a two-year pilot phase. Participating rural electric cooperatives include Grayson Rural Electric, Big Sandy Rural Electric, Fleming-Mason Electric, and Jackson Energy. 

If you live in a county served by one of these co-ops, give them a call today to ask for your home to be evaluated for energy savings through How$mart!

KFTC members have long urged utilities in Kentucky, especially our rural electric co-ops, to invest more in energy efficiency programs. Our members are helping to spread the word about this promising approach, and continue to nudge and encourage the co-ops to do everything they can to make this program successful in the pilot stage so it can expand in the future.

If you like this video, be sure to check out other similar stories produced by Appalshop and shared on a new website called Making Connections News. There you will find a growing collection of videos and radio stories about efforts to "build a healthy future for Appalachia's land and people."