Battle Brewing Over 42-Mile TC Energy Kentucky Pipe for Gas Plant
TC Energy subsidiary Columbia Gulf Transmission has proposed a 42-mile, 30-inch pipeline through Rowan, Fleming, and Mason counties (in Kentucky) to supply gas to East Kentucky Power Cooperative’s coal-fired Spurlock plant, letting it co-fire up to 50% natural gas (see TC Energy to Build 42 Miles of Kentucky Pipe for Gas Plant). The roughly $400 million project has drawn opposition from residents citing safety, undisclosed routes through properties, tree removal, and imagined threats to 15 endangered or threatened species identified by state wildlife officials. Rowan and Fleming county governments oppose the pipeline, while Mason County officials and GOP lawmakers, including Senate President Robert Stivers, support it for jobs and grid reliability. FERC decides on whether or not to approve it in November. Read More “Battle Brewing Over 42-Mile TC Energy Kentucky Pipe for Gas Plant”
Diversified Energy and real estate firm Maverick Holdings have secured an option on 100 acres at Letcher County’s Gateway Industrial Park near Jenkins, aiming to use an existing natural gas compressor station to fuel an off-grid, 100-megawatt power plant that could attract data centers or manufacturers. The Appalachian Industrial Development Authority signed an 18-month joint development agreement in March, though some board members were asked to sign NDAs. Local officials remain cautiously optimistic, citing potential tax revenue and infrastructure funding, but stress the project is still in early, unproven stages. 
Owensboro (KY) Municipal Utilities (OMU) is studying a proposed 545-megawatt natural gas power plant on roughly 30 acres at the former Elmer Smith Station site along the Ohio River, where coal generation ended in 2020. The developer, Green River East GenCo, holds an option to lease and has filed a grid interconnection application. OMU hired GDS Associates for a six-month study funded by the developer. OMU General Manager Tim Lyons stressed that the early-stage project isn’t guaranteed and that OMU won’t own the roughly $1 billion plant, citing customer risk. Instead, the plant may pursue power purchase agreements ahead of joining the MISO market in 2027. The plant will employ 15–20 workers. 
In September 2022, MDN told you about a new 53-mile pipeline project in Western Kentucky — a 16-inch natural gas pipeline to feed natgas to the southern Pennyrile Region (see 
Kentucky has experienced rapid economic growth in recent years, similar to other southern states. Data centers are looking to Kentucky for future expansion. Last fall, Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities Company (KU), both part of PPL Corporation, forecasted in their Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) the need for additional power generation due to the expected influx of data centers and economic development across their service territories (see 
In December 2022, Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities Company (KU), both subsidiaries of PPL Corporation, announced a plan to replace 1,500 megawatts of aging coal-fired generation (nearly one-third of Kentucky’s coal fleet) with two 645-MW natural gas combined-cycle units along with several unreliable, intermittent solar projects (see 
In May 2021, MDN told you that Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) had won Kentucky state approval to build a new 12-inch, 12-mile pipeline south of Louisville to supply gas to homes and businesses (including a Jim Beam distillery) in Bullitt County—homes and businesses that can’t connect to LG&E’s local natgas utility system because it is currently maxed out (see 
Anti-fossil fuel zealots, led (and funded) by the odious Sierra Club, made silly horse’s rear-ends of themselves yesterday at Waterfront Park in Louisville, Kentucky. A small group (under 20 judging by photos) engaged in a fake funeral procession with a box shaped like a black coffin with the words “DIED FROM FOSSIL FUELS” written on the side of it to object to the construction of a tiny, 12-mile pipeline in the area. Here’s the thing: The people engaging in these theatrics were all wearing clothes made FROM fossil fuels, wearing hats made from fossil fuels, sporting sneakers made from fossil fuels, most with glasses made from fossil fuels, carrying banners and signs made from fossil fuels, speaking into a PA system that was made with fossil fuels, and carrying a fake coffin that was painted with paint that comes from fossil fuels. Do they know just how stupid they looked? 
Kentucky has seen unprecedented economic growth in recent years, like other southern states. Data centers are looking to Kentucky for future expansion. Last fall, Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities Company (KU), both part of PPL Corporation, forecasted in their Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) the need for additional power generation due to the expected influx of data centers and economic development across their service territories (see 
In May 2021, MDN told you that Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) had won Kentucky state approval to build a new 12-inch, 12-mile pipeline south of Louisville to supply gas to homes and businesses (including a Jim Beam distillery) in Bullitt County that can’t connect to LG&E’s local natgas utility system because it is currently maxed out (see