Ongoing Coverage: Environmental groups attack king coal in GOP-controlled state
Updated: Sep 17
Cultivating sources inside some of Kentucky's largest consumer advocacy groups and Republican lawmakers in Frankfort, my colleagues and I led coverage of dueling studies about the future of electricity in the commonwealth.
KY energy customers could save $2.6B by 2050 by divesting in coal, report says
Phasing out Kentucky’s reliance on coal-generated electricity by investing in renewable energy and setting fuel-neutral policy could save ratepayers more than $2.6 billion over the next 25 years, according to utility advocates.
A study commissioned by the Kentucky Resources Council, Metropolitan Housing Coalition, Mountain Association and Earthjustice takes aim at a pair of coal-friendly laws the Kentucky General Assembly passed in 2023 and 2024. Those bills, the report said, hinder the Bluegrass State’s ability to transition to using a diverse set of power sources that could reduce electric bills while remaining reliable.
The policies set tougher standards for state regulators to phase out coal-fired units and established a commission to review fossil fuel-fired plant closures, including those that burn coal, oil or natural gas.
The Kentucky legislature’s preference for fossil fuels mirrors that of President Donald Trump’s administration, which has overseen a blanket shift in federal policy against offshore wind-energy production, solar grant funding and environmental justice advocacy.
The Kentucky Resources Council, a nonprofit environmental law and advocacy organization, and its partners are rolling out the research just weeks before lawmakers in Frankfort are set to gavel in a for a budget session where rising living costs are expected to take center stage.
The group said it intends to send a copy to all 138 state senators and representatives.
Modeling in the report shows places that use solar, wind and other renewable energy sources for power outperform coal-fired electricity in cost and risk.
“The least-cost option for Kentucky’s electricity future is one that transitions away from coal and avoids new gas-fired units,” said Ashley Wilmes, executive director of the Kentucky Resources Council, during a Dec. 11 news conference to review the report.
The Republican-controlled legislature in 2023 and again in 2024 abandoned a fuel-neutral regulatory approach that would put rules and even incentives in place based on performance in an effort to reduce carbon emissions and ensure fair competition. Instead, policies criticized by the report hinder utilities from exploring lower-cost renewable alternatives, KRC program attorney Byron Gary said.
Lawmakers created a standard whereby renewable energy is guilty until proven innocent when companies seek the Public Service Commission’s permission to decommission a fossil-fueled power plant, Gary added.
For its part in the approvals process, the PSC is barred from considering intermittent energy resources that include renewables and battery storage when determining what will replace a coal or natural gas plant.
“A guide star for all good law and policy is to be fuel-neutral and be responsive to the facts and the technologies and the economics of the time, and, for the most part, that’s what Kentucky law was trying to do before passage of these fuel-preference bills,” said Cassandra McCrae, a senior attorney at Earthjustice, an environmental law nonprofit and partner organization in commissioning the report.
Baked into the group’s modeling are reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants.
The report insists, however, renewable energies outpace fossil fuels even without factoring in future carbon taxes aiming to put a price on emissions to encourage reduction or fuel-risk costs that include sudden price swings, up or down, due to supply and demand imbalance, policy change, global conflict and other factors.
Fossil fuel-related jobs were excluded from consideration in the review of past utility-related policy, despite their historic importance to the Kentucky economy. The research emphasizes a least-cost alternative for ratepayers first, but there is a great deal of economic opportunity by embracing a renewable energy future, Wilmes said.
In April, Trump signed a suite of executive orders aimed at boosting coal production in Eastern Kentucky and nationwide by easing mining restrictions and reviving coal-company leasing on federal lands.
Similar efforts at undoing Obama-era mining restrictions during Trump’s first term did little to stem a bleeding coal industry giving way to cheaper natural gas alternatives, but it helped secure Appalachian coal country for Trump during the last three presidential elections.
An ongoing global energy transition has already eliminated thousands of high-paying coal jobs, particularly in Eastern Kentucky, where family finances, retail economies and local government financing have been hit hardest, Gary said.
“It’s unfortunate that folks have been left high and dry by that transition, but I think it’s important to recognize also that continuing to rely on coal now hurts the pocketbooks of every Kentuckian,” he said. “The same communities that were hurt by the decline in coal are now being hurt by the continued reliance on coal.”
Senate GOP blasts environmental report calling for end to KY coal dominance
Recent temperature swings in the Bluegrass State underscore why Kentucky lawmakers are still clinging to coal, according to Senate Republicans who responded to new research by environmental groups calling for an end to the state’s alleged overreliance on fossil fuels.
Mid-December’s sub-freezing temperatures proved why Kentuckians need “dependable, around-the-clock power,” the GOP Senate leaders said in a statement over the weekend.
The statement follows the release of the report which found Kentuckians could save billions by embracing clean energy alternatives and repealing laws that put a thumb on the scale in favor of coal. The report was commissioned this year by the Kentucky Resources Council, Metropolitan Housing Coalition, Mountain Association and Earthjustice.
The study was produced by Current Energy Group LLC, a consulting firm GOP lawmakers accuse of being biased in favor of decarbonization.
The group, Senate Republicans said, “was produced by a consulting firm openly dedicated to advancing aggressive policies that actually diminish our ability to grow the economic base.”
Member’s of CEG’s energy transition team authored report, calling into question whether its conclusions are an independent assessment of the state’s energy needs, the lawmakers said.
CEG modeled Kentucky’s future energy needs and determined laws Republicans championed in 2023 and 2024 hinder utilities from transitioning to a more diverse, reliable and inexpensive set of power sources such as solar, wind and battery storage.
The policies set tougher standards for state regulators to phase out coal-fired units and established a commission to review fossil fuel-fired plant closures, including those that burn coal, oil or natural gas.
GOP lawmakers touted that commission in their statement Saturday, saying it ensures energy policy “is driven by facts, reliability, and long-term competitiveness.”
“The study is a fair, transparent, and unbiased assessment,” Kentucky Resources Council Executive Director Ashley Wilmes in a statement to the Herald-Leader. “Current Energy Group is a reputable consultant and its staff have executed expert studies on behalf of private- and public-sector entities.”
CEG did not immediately respond to a Herald-Leader request for comment Monday.
The work CEG did on behalf of KRC and other environmental groups is what should have been done by the legislature already, Wilmes said: testing assumptions to find the least cost, most reliable form of electrical generation for Kentuckians.
“Their resume speaks for itself,” she added of CEG’s past work. “There isn’t a major company in the energy or industrial field that doesn’t accept that there will be accounting for carbon emissions from the utility sector over the lifetime of the new plants being planned."
The research state environmental groups are propping up comes just weeks before the Kentucky General Assembly is scheduled to gavel into session during a budget cycle where rising living expenses are expected to be a major topic of debate.
That has created a scenario where the state’s biggest energy lobbyists are pitting research and studies against each other for credibility. Dependable Power First Kentucky, a group that tends to promote the state’s coal-fired sector, applauded research by Energy Ventures Analysis late last week cautioning against “premature” coal plant retirements that could increase costs and weaken the region’s electrical grid.
“The study estimates that co#86C6E5ntinuing to operate coal plants scheduled for retirement, rather than replacing them with new renewable generation, could save consumers billions every year nationwide,” Dependable Power First Kentucky Executive Director Katelyn Bunning said in a statement.
EVA's website calls itself the "go-to coal consulting firm."
In far Eastern Kentucky, where residential power rates are higher than anywhere else in the state, Kentucky Power is seeking the state's permission to reinvest in an aging West Virginia coal-fired power plant alongside a request to boost rates by an additional 15%.
Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, Senate Majority Caucus Chair Robby Mills, R-Henderson, and Natural Resources and Energy Committee Chair Brandon Smith, R-Hazard, were joined by Sens. Steve West, R-Paris, Phillip Wheeler, R-Pikeville, and Danny Carroll, R-Paducah, in authoring the statement.
Kentucky, they said, has long been a national leader in affordable, reliable energy while also remaining committed to reducing emissions and investing in cleaner technologies.
“We have made meaningful progress over the decades, and that work continues today through ongoing modernization efforts and responsible planning for next-generation nuclear power,” the group of lawmakers said.
Kentucky does not have any active nuclear power plants, but Paducah’s 70-year-old enrichment site is being eyed by private-developers and the U.S. Department of Energy for future enrichment and artificial intelligence-related power generation.
In 2024, lawmakers passed legislation forming a Nuclear Energy Development Authority in Kentucky to explore nuclear energy projects.
“Kentucky is committed to continued energy progress and innovation, but we cannot risk affordability, reliability, or energy independence by rushing into policies that weaken our grid,” the GOP lawmakers said. “Our energy future must build on the strong foundation already in place, keeping Kentucky competitive, resilient, and powered reliably every day.”