BY MCKENNA HORSLEY

Kentucky Lantern

The Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) will provide several opportunities over the next month for the public to receive information and provide comments regarding Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities’ (LG&E/KU) request to retire four coal-fired electric generating units and three natural gas simple cycle combustion turbine units.

LGE/KU’s proposal includes replacing the current aging generation systems with two natural gas combined cycle facilities, two solar facilities, one battery storage facility and four solar power purchase agreements. If approved, the replacement generation would be online between 2026 and 2028, at a cost of $2.09 billion.

In-person meetings will be held:

• Monday, July 31, 5:30 p.m. (ET) Frederick Douglass High School, 2000 Winchester Road, in Lexington.

• Thursday, August 3, 5:30 p.m. (ET) Harlan County Judge’s Office, 210 E. Central Street, #111, in Harlan.

• Monday, August 14, 4:30 p.m. (CT) Hopkins County Government Center, 56 N. Main Street, Madisonville.

• Wednesday, August 16, 2023, 5:30 p.m. (ET) Louisville Free Public Library, 301 York St., Louisville.

A virtual meeting will be held Tuesday, August 15 at 4:30 ET.  Instructions on how to participate will be on the PSC website https://psc.ky.gov/ prior to that date.

The PSC will hold a public hearing on the proposal on Tuesday, August 22, at 9 a.m. (ET) at their offices, 211 Sower Blvd., in Frankfort. Time will be available before the hearing begins for public comments. The hearing will be streamed live on the commission’s YouTube channel.

Coal-fired units that the companies propose to retire include E.W. Brown Unit 3, Ghent Unit 2, Mill Creek Units 1 and 2. The natural gas-fired units include Haefling Units 1 and 2, and Paddy’s Run Unit 12. LG&E/KU proposes to retire them between 2024 and 2027.

LG&E has 418,000 electric customers in Louisville and 16 surrounding counties, while KU serves 566,000 electric customers in 77 counties in Central, Northern, Southeastern, and Western Kentucky.

Additional information can be found at https://psc.ky.gov/Case/ViewCaseFilings/22-402.