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LG&E and KU’s innovative partnerships with customers and own renewable projects will add more solar energy to the electric grid over the next several years. Photo furnished
Innovative partnerships between utilities and their customers are adding more solar energy to the grid.
Whether big or small, innovation will be key to growing solar energy in Kentucky. The state’s largest utilities, Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company, are partnering with customers and adding more solar projects to the electric grid over the next several years to help maximize the potential.
In this case, they’re not starting from scratch. The utilities have years of experience under their belt. LG&E and KU have been operating Kentucky’s second largest solar facility since 2016 and have offered customer programs since around the same time. They’ll work with key community partners and customers of all sizes to personalize solutions using their suite of renewable energy programs.
The utilities’ programs and services are wide ranging and can vary based on customers’ needs and own goals.
"Our portfolio of sustainable programs encourages customers to support local and regional renewable energy and provides flexibility to personalize their experience to match their interests,” said LG&E and KU President John Crockett. “Together with our customers, we’re adding more solar energy to the electric grid and empowering a cleaner, sustainable energy future for Kentucky.”
For example, customers may prefer an individual monthly subscription — for less than 20 cents per day — in the Solar Share Program. They then earn bill credits based on their subscription level when the facility that’s located in Shelby County produces power. Or, they may prefer selecting blocks of Renewable Energy Certificates, purchased on their behalf by the utilities, to add more renewable energy on the region’s electric grid. Business customers can also have installed on their property solar panel systems, which are then maintained by the utilities through the Business Solar Program, or they can work with LG&E and KU to establish power purchase agreements for renewable power.
Customers who want to support 100% renewable energy can use the utilities’ Renewable Choice Calculator to explore the options available.
Just recently, Churchill Downs Racetrack, a longtime local partner, announced the utilities were the first Green Energy partner of Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby. Through participation in LG&E and KU’s Green Energy program, Churchill Downs Racetrack agreed to purchase blocks of Green Energy, equivalent to the total energy consumed by the track during live racing Kentucky Derby Week, April 29-May 6.
In turn, the program purchased equivalent Renewable Energy Certificates on the track’s behalf. The certificates were purchased from renewable energy generators of solar, wind or biomass in Kentucky or neighboring states, and that renewable energy was added on the regional grid.
“With our desire to be a steward of environmental efforts in the community, we’re delighted to formalize this exciting partnership with LG&E and KU to make this year the first official green Kentucky Derby Week,” said Churchill Downs Racetrack President Mike Anderson.
The utilities also offer a Green Tariff that enhances renewable options for residential, commercial and industrial customers. It rolls the Green Energy and Business Solar programs under one tariff and provides a third option — the Renewable Power Agreement — for large customers interested in purchasing renewable power.
In 2021, the utilities announced two new RPA agreements with prominent companies and educational institutions. The agreements will lead to constructing two of the largest solar projects,100 megawatts and 125 megawatts respectively, here in the commonwealth.
Late last year, LG&E and KU filed their own plans for future generation, currently before the Kentucky Public Service Commission, which include constructing two new 120-megawatt solar projects and a 125-megawatt battery storage facility. The utilities are also pursuing an additional 600 megawatts of solar energy via power purchase agreements.
If approved, LG&E and KU’s energy mix would grow from its current 1% renewable energy to 9% by 2030. Based on current U.S. Energy Information Administration data, the company’s share of solar generation would be more than two times the share of solar generation for the U.S. as a whole today.
LG&E and KU’s plans bridge the right mix of renewable energy with natural gas and coal-fired power generation. They, in partnership with parent company PPL, have committed to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The utilities’ clean energy transition plan is enabling a more resilient energy grid and prioritizing investments in innovation and new technologies, while preserving reliability and affordability.
Visit lge-ku.com/future to learn more about LG&E and KU’s renewable energy programs and plans to grow solar energy in Kentucky.