By Nick Comer, East Kentucky Power Cooperative
A growing number of commercial and industrial businesses served by electric cooperatives are developing corporate sustainability plans and shrinking their carbon footprints. Meanwhile, most major economic development prospects place access to low-carbon energy options high on their checklist of needs. Of course, many residential co-op members are concerned about carbon emissions and urge their local co-ops to explore renewables and reduce carbon emissions.
The push for renewables has been growing for decades. In the 1990s, it led to EKPC’s innovative fleet of small power plants fueled by landfill methane. In 2017, it led to Cooperative Solar Farm One along Interstate 64 east of Lexington, one of the first utility-scale solar facilities in Kentucky. Now, EKPC plans to expand its renewable fleet and shrink its carbon footprint with two new planned solar energy facilities, including one in Fayette County, three miles west of EKPC’s existing solar facility.
EKPC’s mission is to serve its owner-member electric cooperatives by providing reliable, cost-competitive and increasingly sustainable electricity, which is distributed to 1.1 million Kentucky residents in 89 counties, including more than 6,000 Fayette County homes and businesses. Our not-for-profit cooperative strives to keep electricity flowing 24/7/365 while keeping rates as low as possible.
The challenges to that mission are formidable. For more than a decade, federal regulators have implemented a steady stream of rules, with the practical effect of raising costs to operate reliable, traditional resources like coal plants, while also limiting energy production from them. Simultaneously, renewables, especially solar and wind, have been incentivized by the government. As a result, for EKPC, the prudent, responsible course is to protect high reliability, limit costs and diversify risks by maintaining its fleet of reliable generators while adding renewables where financially feasible.
The Fayette County solar project is the result of EKPC’s careful analysis of a number of potential renewable projects aimed at reducing overall carbon intensity. In fact, the Fayette project is among the lowest-cost proposals EKPC considered. It is located next to a large electric substation at the juncture of several of EKPC’s high-voltage transmission lines, providing ready access to the regional power grid. As a result, the cost of adding or upgrading transmission lines and equipment to accommodate the additional solar power is minimal.
In contrast, placing solar facilities in remote locations like reclaimed strip mines can be extremely costly if it requires building or upgrading electric grid infrastructure. Often, the existing power lines at these sites are too limited, do not feed electricity to the desired location or simply do not exist. As a result, developers can spend as much or more on expensive transmission line infrastructure to deliver electricity as they do on solar panels and related equipment to generate the power.
While it is possible to place solar panels on scattered islands of warehouse/store rooftops and parking lots, this is another scenario that drives up costs dramatically. Those islands must be wired together and connected to the high-voltage grid; once operational, the panels, inverters and tracking motors must be maintained, as do the roofs and parking lots where they are located. Tasks such as replacing a roof or paving a parking lot become much more challenging and costly, especially considering the scale of the solar installations—the Fayette County solar energy facility will feature 88,000 solar panels over nearly 400 acres. By comparison, the entire rooftop on Rupp Arena and the adjoining convention center amounts to roughly 10 acres. The adjacent parking lot between Maxwell and High streets would add another 15 acres.
Matt Partymiller, a professional solar installer with experience in both residential rooftop and large industrial-scale facilities, noted in a recent op-ed that rooftop and parking lot installations, while helpful, are not a silver bullet for meeting goals like Fayette County’s target of carbon neutrality by 2050. He understands the scale necessary to make significant impacts in overall carbon reductions in a reasonable and cost-effective manner.
EKPC is committed to being a good neighbor, and the co-op strives to minimize the overall impact of projects like the proposed Fayette County solar farm. The panels will be visually screened with trees and shrubbery around the perimeter of the property. Once the facility is in operation, traffic in and out will be minimal, a couple of vehicles a day on average.
The impact to the land and soil will be minimal. Grass will be sown around the solar panels and regularly maintained to ensure shrubs and trees do not interfere with panel operation. EKPC plans a limited amount of grading, and all topsoil will remain on the property. Decades in the future, when the facility is decommissioned, all solar panels and poles in the ground will be removed, along with the wiring. At that point, the land can easily be returned to traditional agricultural purposes.
EKPC is taking a pragmatic approach to implementing solar. Our cooperative’s roots are in serving rural Kentucky, so we have a great appreciation for the value of farmland. Harvesting sunshine to generate electricity without carbon emissions, and doing so in the most efficient, cost-effective manner possible, is beneficial to all of Kentucky, including Fayette County.
Nick Comer is External Affairs Manager for East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC), which supplies electricity for 16 electric cooperatives serving 1.1 million Kentucky residents across 89 counties.
