An important new study released today strengthens the case for passing the Clean Energy Opportunity Act (HB 167) in Kentucky.

Under legislation offered by Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, electric utilities in Kentucky would gradually increase the share of their electricity that comes from energy efficiency programs and renewable energy over the next ten years. The bill requires utilities to get 12.5 percent of their electricity from renewable energy and achieve 10.25 percent cumulative savings from energy efficiency efforts by 2022.

Today's study by Synapse Energy Economics, Inc. estimates that those requirements could create 28,000 net new jobs and reduce average electric bills by 8-10% over the next ten years, compared to a "do-nothing" scenario.

The study was released by the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED). Below are some key quotes from MACED's press release:

“This study confirms that legislation to diversify our electricity portfolio would be economically beneficial to Kentucky,” said Justin Maxson, President of the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development. “The bill would allow the state to hedge against increasing rates by making homes and businesses more energy efficient. And it would spur the creation of clean energy jobs installing renewable energy projects and making energy efficiency upgrades.

“Efficiency and renewables are already the emerging trend in construction in the Commonwealth,” said Kentucky solar entrepreneur Matt Partymiller of Solar Energy Solutions in Lexington. “This report by Synapse captures what Kentucky engineers and contractors already know and what other states have already seen. Legislation like the Clean Energy Opportunity Act will provide the tools necessary for Kentucky builders to create jobs while ensuring Kentucky energy costs stay low.”

The report predicts that electricity rates in KY will rise and the percentage of our electricity that comes from burning coal will decline under either a do-nothing scenario or passage of the Clean Energy Opportunity Act. Natural gas is expected to displace some of the electricity that is now produced by coal under either scenario.

Synapse carried out the study for the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, a Berea based economic development organization, and the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance, a coalition of over 50 businesses, affordable housing advocates, non-profit organizations and faith based groups.

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Adam Strobel Barr (pictured left, with wife Rae) first had the idea of putting solar panels on his farm when he learned that he would need to supply power to his farm’s pond to pump out irrigation to his crops.

“The first motivation for me getting this system is that it broke my heart to think about another power line running across the farm.”

And, electric costs are rising. The farm is served by Meade County Rural Electric Cooperative, which just saw a 30% increase in rates this year. With the help of grants from both the state and the county, Adam, his father and uncle installed a solar-powered irrigation pump on their family farm – Barr Farms - earlier this fall.

While these are the first solar panels they have installed on the farm, Adam and his wife, Rae Strobel Barr are no strangers to sustainable practices. They work hard to build healthy soil and reduce the farm’s carbon footprint by using small machinery and draft horses when possible. And, they use these practices as a marketing advantage when selling farm products, which include beef, chicken, eggs and vegetables, to a largely urban, environmentally-sensitive consumer base.

Adam was excited to show off the solar pump (pictured above) to his neighbors at the house party he hosted on November 13th, to benefit Kentuckians For The Commonwealth and Community Farm Alliance.

“I know that the sun is the greatest source of energy we have available to us,” he told 20 guests as they peeked inside the pump to see how it works. “Growing plants is the most efficient way to harness the sun’s energy and we just don’t yet know how to harness it well for other uses, but we’re getting there and I wanted to try this out – to know, does it work? Will it last?”

The pump should last for 20-30 years with minimum repairs and pump 3000 gallons per day even with some cloudy days mixed in, Strobel Barr said. It cost $7000, $1700 of which was supplied from money available for on-farm clean energy projects through the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy and $2500 of which came from the Meade County Agriculture Investment Program.

“When I was in Finland travelling, I noticed that everyone had solar panels – they were everywhere, powering part of all the electricity use you could see,” said Brandenburg resident Beverly Furnival.  She wondered why we don’t have more of these in Kentucky.

Guests also learned about how the geo-thermal heating and cooling system works at Adam’s father’s house, which is located on the farm.

The system’s installer – Chuck Dever of Dever Enterprises in Elizabethtown, KY (pictured right) – told guests that geo-thermal systems are both efficient and have a quick payback. When replacing propane or heating oil the payback time is as little as 4-5 years.

Dever installs the systems in homes of all kinds, including homes as small as 1000 square feet, noting that the average system costs about 1 to 1.5 cents per square foot. He said that through word of mouth Kentuckians are starting to catch on about what an economic bargain it is to heat and cool through geo-thermal.

“I put in the first geothermal system in Hardin County. That was more than 22 years ago. And now, business is booming. It had been increasing and then the federal tax credit really helped it to grow.”
At the end of the party, Adam and Rae asked guests to join KFTC and CFA and then facilitated a discussion about what issues people care about locally. Folks mentioned interest in garnering support for the Meade County farmer’s market and getting more farm-fresh food in area schools.

The group also discussed how advocating for state energy policies that support the growth of renewable energy, such as the Clean Energy Opportunity Act, could make the clean energy systems on Barr Farms more widespread. This bill is supported by both KFTC and CFA through their partnership in the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance.

“But what’s the grand vision? What can we do to change the world, to change our situation?” asked guest Roger Furnival.

“We want to use this conversation as a starting point for talking about sustainable energy in rural Kentucky…I believe everyone changes through a conversation, just like the one we are having tonight. It’s about citizen politics – regular people using their voices,” Adam replied.

Rae highlighted why she and Adam wanted to host a friend-raiser for KFTC and CFA.  She noted that they are interested both in building community in Meade County and connecting these local issues to the larger movements effected by KFTC and CFA’s work.

“Both organizations have been transformative for us because through them, we can have a voice in changing things we care about.”

If you live in Meade or Breckenridge counties and are interested in joining this local conversation, contact nancy@kftc.org.

Join us:

Monday, November 7th, 2011
10 am to 4 pm
Northside Library Branch
1733 Russell Cave Road
Lexington, KY

The Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance, of which KFTC is a founding member, will host its fall meeting on November 7th. The agenda will include:

-Preview of the 2012 legislative session: Perspectives from key KySEA members including a green energy business and an affordable housing provider, as well as opportunities to plug into KySEA's legislative work

-Overview of the Clean Energy Opportunity Act

-Two exciting presentations on reports related to clean energy by Metropolitan Housing Coalition and Kentucky Environmental Foundation.

Bring a brown bag lunch. We hope you will join us.

Contact nancy@kftc.org to RSVP or for more information.

The interim joint committee on local government will host a "discussion on solar energy" tomorrow, October 26th, in Frankfort at 10 am in the Capitol Annex room 171.

Join us to support Matt Partymiller and Denis Oudard of Solar Energy Solutions (which did the solar install left) and the Kentucky Solar Energy Society, both member groups of the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance, of which KFTC is a member group.

The committee is co-chaired by Senator Damon Thayer and Representative Steve Riggs. Both are interested to learn about the opportunity Kentucky has to advance solar energy and how local governments can take action.

KFTC members Tim Darst and Angela Lincoln have been working towards energy sustainability for quite some time. They care about it for many reasons – because of their faith, their commitment to social justice and their concern about global climate change and mountaintop removal coal mining.

Ten years ago, they began efforts to reduce their home electricity usage through lifestyle changes and energy efficiency measures. They built awnings to block excess sunlight, put lower-watt bulbs in their lamps and began using sunlight to dry their clothes, among other things.

“We looked into electricity in Kentucky and found out that more than 90% comes from coal – the dirtiest of all the fossil fuels,” Tim said. “We wanted to make some changes in our life and we started with electricity because it made the most sense.”

These efforts yielded a 70% reduction in home electricity use over time, he told a crowd of 25 at a KFTC gathering that he, Angela and neighbors Rus Funk and Amy Mudd co-hosted on October 18th. Once their usage was down, Tim and Angela invested in solar panels to provide most of their remaining electricity use.

The crowd saw Tim and Angela’s solar panel array and then toured Rus and Amy’s home geo-thermal heating and cooling system. Geo-thermal systems run water through pipes deep into the ground to keep it a steady temperature and then use a highly efficient indoor machine to heat or cool the water, which in turn heats or cools the air to the desired temperature.

Amy, Kiernan and Rus, in the process of having an addition put onto their home, explored the possibility of going to geo-thermal as a way of attempting to reduce their carbon footprint.  They said that the installation process was messy and loud, with lots of dust coming from the drilling process, but they feel like it was well worth it.

"We knew that Tim and Angela had gone solar and liked the idea, but knew that there was no way we could have afforded that option. geo-thermal was something we could work in the budget of our addition, and we'd get the money returned to us in savings much more quickly then we could have via solar."

Ron Neal, of Louisville-based Allgeier Air (pictured, right) – the company that installed Rus and Amy’s system - told the crowd that residential and commercial use of geothermal heating and cooling is really taking off in Kentucky.

“With a 7-to-10-year average payback, geothermal is catching on quickly.  A few years ago, we saw a steady 1-2% increase in our installations every year. In 2009, our business increased 20%. In 2010, 30% and 2011, 40%.”

He went on to describe the success that 50 Kentucky schools have been using geothermal systems. One school built a new building 4 times the size of the previous one. With efficiency measures and a geothermal system, energy bills in the bigger building are just ¼ of the school’s previous bill costs.

KFTC member Jane Walsh brought her two kids to tour the homes. “We were inspired,” Jane said. Her daughter, Mae Alice Harrell is a reporter for the Bloom Elementary "Bloom Report," a weekly program of her school's media club. She filmed the event to help educate her schoolmates about how families can use less energy.

The party raised both friends and funds for KFTC - thirteen new members signed up! And, the event motivated many people present to lobby their legislators in order to make these clean energy systems more affordable for Kentuckians.

“I love the idea of solar panel and geothermal technology. I would love to save money on my utilities and minimize my carbon footprint, but these projects are expensive for the average middle income household,” said participant and property manager Debbie Rosenstein. “This is why it is so important for us to contact our legislators regarding the Clean Energy Opportunity Act. Clean energy needs to be an affordable alternative for everyone.”

If you are interested in telling your legislator that you want affordable, clean energy solutions in Kentucky, contact nancy@kftc.org.

About 50 KFTC members rallied in front of the Somerset office of U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers on Friday afternoon to send a message that the region needs a member of Congress who will work first for the people.

"We want good jobs, clean water and air, and safe and healthy families. We want competent, honest, and transparent representation in our government," said rally emcee Doug Deorrfeld. "Right now we don't have these things. But we have the opportunity to demand them and make a good future for ourselves."

Several young people spoke and said Rogers' policies are not giving them hope for being able to stay in eastern Kentucky to fulfill their dreams.

"I have a vision for my future that's harder and harder to realize," said Cody Montgomery, a non-traditional student at Morehead State University from Magoffin County. "The reason that I am having doubts about not only my future, but that of the entire 5th District, is directly related to Rep. Rogers. Over the past 30 years Rep. Rogers has pushed an agenda that has fallen far short of nurturing the people of the 5th District."

Montgomery talked of the government assistance that helped his grandmother raise him, programs such as food stamps, SSI and WIC (Women, Infants and Children) that are now threatened with severe cuts under Rogers' leadership.

Ada Smith of Letcher County said she wants to create communities where young people don't feel forced to leave. "I'm not surprised when my friends tell me they're moving away," she said.

But she said policies promoted by Rep. Rogers do little to help the region or give young people a reason to stay. She and other speakers noted that several of the poorest counties in the nation are in Rogers' district, and that his district was recently rated 435th – or next to last in the nation – on a broad variety of quality of life indicators.

"Rogers has shown little concern about the long-term poverty of the region," Smith said. "We need to bring real solutions to the table."

The speakers noted that Rogers and his Senate colleague Mitch McConnell hold important positions of power in Congress and are in a unique position to help Kentucky. Rogers is the chair of the House Appropriations Committee.

Instead, Roger has used his position to push policies that will hurt people in his district and throughout Kentucky.

Those include the elimination of federal job training programs, changes that make college less affordable, cuts to low-income heating assistance, and protections for tax breaks for the wealthy.

The speakers also noted his opposition to alternative energy programs and his attacks on the Clean Water Act and other laws that prevent polluters from poisoning air and water.

Stanley Sturgill, a retired coal miner form Harlan County, called out Rogers for supporting cuts in more than 30 education programs "when your own district suffers in all aspects of education."

"He voted nine or more times against alternative energy. He voted five or more times against women receiving equal pay," Sturgill added.

Read a copy of the letter delivered to Rep. Rogers.

The speakers also noted that Rogers has presented no proposals for creating jobs or helping the economy.

"I want to know why he's not working for jobs," said Lee Ann Paynter, of Danville.

Shekinah Lavalle made the trip to Somerset to Louisville to let folks know that Rogers' policies affect all Kentuckians, not just those in the 5th District. She also spoke of the the benefits her family received when she was a child from government assistance programs, and how programs under attack by Rogers are helping her get through college. 

After the rally, participants entered Rogers' office to deliver letters to Rogers or other items other items that symbolize what's important to them about Kentucky or their community. Erica Urias of Pike County left a bottle of her family's well water, while others left books and photographs.

Here's a video of the rally.

Re-posted from the Louisville Eccentric Observer.

Activists point to higher bills, job creation in urging legislators to support clean energy
By Anne Marshall

Earlier this month, the Kentucky Public Service Commission’s public hearing unfolded much like a game of dominoes. Held at Louisville’s Johnson Traditional Middle School, members of the scant crowd leaned into the microphone, one after another, their pleas all generally falling into line: Don’t raise our bills, protect low-income families who can’t afford ever-blooming energy costs, and get serious about alternative energy.

Clean energy advocates hope the combination of rising rates, along with the potential for job creation, will steer legislators towards passing the Clean Energy Opportunity Act, a bill that’s gone nowhere in the past two legislative sessions. It mandates that a portion of Kentucky’s energy come from renewable sources, rather than solely from coal. An admittedly uphill battle in a mountaintop removal state.

“I think it will look nearly impossible until the day before it passes,” says Wallace McMullen, conservation chair with Louisville’s chapter of the Sierra Club.

The Sept. 6 hearing was part of a series as the Public Service Commission decides whether LG&E and Kentucky Utilities should be allowed to tack on an environmental surcharge to bills. That could raise residential electric bills in Louisville by up to 19 percent over the next four years. (The Sierra Club and Metropolitan Housing Coalition will go before the Public Service Commission in November as interveners in the surcharge case. The Sierra Club questions the analysis behind the fee. The Housing Coalition is concerned with how the higher bills may inevitably hit the poor the hardest.)

The charge would eventually drop off once the utilities have covered the estimated $2.5 billion needed to improve existing coal-fired power plants not meeting Environmental Protection Agency guidelines. One such upgrade would include the addition of “scrubbers” that will catch emissions before they escape into the air. Joan Lindop, with the Greater Louisville Sierra Club, likens this to billions on Band-Aids.

“If they scrub more emissions out, that’s more that’s going into a coal ash pile,” she says. “We’re really not wanting to encourage them to spend that money on old plants when it could be used for renewables.”

And so for the third year, advocates are gearing up to push legislation they say would spark production and demand of solar, wind, hydroelectric and geothermal power.

In 2010, the Clean Energy Opportunity Act (HB 239) was assigned to the state House of Representatives’ Natural Resources and Environment Committee, headed by global-warming denier Rep. Jim Gooch, D-Providence. It did not get a hearing. In 2011, the bill was strategically rerouted outside of Gooch’s committee and into the Tourism Development and Energy Committee led by Rep. Leslie Combs, D-Pikeville. That resulted in measured progress: A discussion hearing. No vote.

This year’s proposed legislation will look much like the one from last year, with two critical pieces. The first includes a renewable and efficiency portfolio standard, a policy already adopted by 29 other states. It would require utilities to generate 12.5 percent of retail sales from renewable energy by 2021, with at least 1 percent from solar.

This is a rather conservative standard when compared to several other states demanding that well over 20 percent of energy eventually be derived from renewable sources.

The other proposed policy calls for a “feed-in tariff,” which works as a contract, establishing a fixed premium price for energy produced in Kentucky, be it from large-scale operations or individual homeowners.

Mike Hynes, president of the Housing Partnership Inc., a developer of affordable housing in Louisville, wrote a letter to the Public Service Commission in support of this idea. Hynes recently installed solar panels on one of the Housing Partnership’s properties, but was careful to only invest in panels that would generate 75 percent of their energy needs.

If Hynes outfitted the building with enough panels to exceed 100 percent of their desired energy, LG&E would give him a credit to go toward future bills, rather than pay him for that energy.
“Basically, that builds up in perpetuity. In my mind, that creates an incentive not to produce enough electricity as one could for their household,” he says. “With a rebate program, that’s an incentive to create systems that are larger than what you can use."

Several regional utility companies including Duke Energy, Georgia Power and Florida Power and Light have tariff programs that pay per kilowatt-hour, then turn around and put that energy back into the grid.

Tom FitzGerald, with the Kentucky Resources Council, says the timing is right for renewables.
“The unit cost of solar and wind is coming down,” says FitzGerald, adding that while coal may appear to be the cheapest source of fuel, that’s not including environmental costs and restrictions.

“Over the course of time, you start having to fold in extra costs because externalities have to be accounted for.”

Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville, will sponsor the renewable energy bill again this year. She says supporters are tailoring their arguments for the legislation in light of another sore subject — jobs.

“When you’re looking at business and manufacturing folks coming to Kentucky, they want constancy in the market,” she says. “Coal is cheap now, but it’s going up.”

The Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance reports that neighboring states with clean energy standards are experiencing a boom in manufacturing and construction employment. For example, after Ohio passed legislation in 2008, about 1,500 solar-related jobs were created.

While no one expects the Clean Energy Opportunity Act to garner much attention until election hoopla ceases, advocates believe this year the support just might be there. They point to this week’s Governor’s Conference on Energy and the Environment in Lexington, where various panels discussed the issue.

“What we have to consider is coal is always going to be No. 1 for the foreseeable 15 to 20 years,” Marzian says. “But if we don’t start looking at different tools … we’re going to be left holding the bag.”

 A recent report on green jobs in Kentucky indicates that green employment in the state is expected to grow at a more rapid pace than the workforce as a whole, with anticipated growth of 6.8% over the next two years.

KFTC advocates for state energy policies that would build on Kentucky's clean energy job momentum through the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance. Read more about how energy policy can increase job growth in Kentucky here.

Excerpts from the report's executive summary:

"The survey indicates that approximately 4.6% of Kentucky’s workforce are performing green jobs. A majority (78%) of the green jobs in Kentucky are full time positions while approximately 9.4% of the organizations in Kentucky include green jobs of some type.

The majority of green jobs in Kentucky are in the Recycling and Waste Reduction core category, followed by Energy Efficiency, then Pollution Reduction and Cleanup. However, the Energy Efficiency and Recycling and Waste Reduction categories appear positioned for the most employment growth in the green core areas in the next two years. 

While the state’s green workforce is poised for growth, approximately 9% of employers anticipate difficulty in finding qualified candidates to fill positions in the Energy Efficiency, while an estimated 6% are anticipating similar challenges in finding qualified candidates... [in other green work areas.]

Certifications can have an impact on an employer’s interest in hiring candidates for green jobs. In making hiring decisions over the next two years, 15% of employers indicated a favorable response to hiring a job candidate with a certification in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), and 10% of employers cited Build-It Green Certification as increasing the likelihood that they would hire a candidate. On the other hand, a modest 7% of employers stated that they would only hire “already trained” employees for green positions.

The dominant modes of preparing green employees include, in order of employer preference, on-the-job training (79%), in-house classroom (39%), and online training (30%)."

The report was authored by ICF International and the Kentucky Office of Employment and Training. To get involved in advocating for green jobs, contact nancy@kftc.org.