The Solar Celebration at West 6th Farm on April 28 near Frankfort was a bittersweet event. Following the passage of the anti-net metering bill, SB 100, in the 2019 General Assemnbly, it seemed a bit strange to be celebrating.
An enthusiastic and diverse crowd turned out on May 11 at an event in Frankfort in support of a Just Transition to a clean energy economy and a Green New Deal for workers and communities.
The main event, a stop on a eight-city tour organized by the Sunrise Movement, was planned in partnership with KFTC and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 32BJ. The event featured State Rep. Attica Scott, KFTC members Kevin Short, Cassia Herron and Scott Shoupe, Sunrise Louisville Hub member Jenny Bencomo Suarez, Sunrise Executive Director Varshini Prakash, Erin Bridges, who plays a leading role in the Sunrise Louisville Hub and on the national Sunrise Steering Committee; and music by Appalatin.
After reintroduction in April, the bipartisan RECLAIM Act was debated and voted on during the May 1 House Natural Resources Committee markup, where the bill was passed out of committee on a bipartisan basis.
KFTC members are involved in conversations on the local, state and national level about the Green New Deal, a bold and broad proposal to address climate change, set the country on a sustainable energy future and tackle inequalities in the energy economy and across society.
Anyone who has followed the progress of Senate Bill 100, which attacked ordinary Kentuckians’ access to rooftop solar during the 2019 General Assembly, knows that this legislative session, monopoly utilities were determined to have their way.
Four big utility interests pumped $327,050 into the political committees of legislative candidates and the political parties during the 2018 election cycle.
That compares with the $6,500 contributed by the tiny political action committee of Kentucky’s solar industry.
KFTC members took part in a special called meeting of the Benham Power Board on February 12 to share the good news that an anonymous donor pledged $200,000 to support the Benham$aves Program.
Over the past several years, Louisville Gas & Electric (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities (KU) have pushed legislation that would eliminate net metering – the retail electric energy rate that rooftop solar owners receive as compensation for electricity they feed back to the grid.
