East Kentucky Power Cooperative says it has applied for federal funds to extend the lives of its coal plants.
President and CEO Tony Campbell told the Kentucky Public Service Commission on Monday that the cooperative applied for a $90 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Those funds would be used to convert the coal units at the Spurlock plant in Mason County and Cooper plant in Pulaski County to run on either coal or natural gas.
“The reason we’re doing co-firing is to keep those coal plants alive. We think we need these in our country,” he said.
The Trump administration made $625 million available to upgrade and extend the lives of coal plants across the country. Coal has been displaced by natural gas as the leading fuel for electricity.
Kentucky Power has said recently that it planned to seek federal funds to repair or replace a cooling tower at its Mitchell plant in West Virginia. Both companies are seeking customer rate increases.
Campbell testified at the commission’s headquarters in Frankfort on Monday as part of East Kentucky Power’s rate case.
If approved by the commission, customers would see about a $5 increase on their monthly bills as part of a settlement agreement reached with Attorney General Russell Coleman’s office.
East Kentucky Power generates 55% of its electricity from coal, according to its 2024 annual report, and 5% from gas.
East Kentucky Power has 16 member-owner cooperatives and serves 1.1 million residents in 89 counties.
The cooperative plans to build new generation, including a 745-megawatt combined-cycle gas plant at the Cooper plant in Burnside. The $1.3 billion plant is scheduled to open in 2030.
East Kentucky Power is planning a smaller gas facility in Casey County, and two solar facilities in Marion and Fayette counties.
Spurlock, near Maysville, is the company’s largest plant, with four units capable of generating more than 1,300 megawatts.
Campbell, who’s retiring, told the commission that East Kentucky Power anticipates increased demand from industrial customers and data centers.
Nick Comer, a spokesman for East Kentucky Power, said the company had submitted an application for $90.6 million from the department's coal modernization initiative.
"If approved, the funds will help defray the costs of co-firing EKPC’s reliable coal power plants with natural gas and upgrading transmission infrastructure to address constraints and congestion," Comer said. "These funds will help to manage the cost of providing reliable power for rural Kentucky residents and businesses."
Elisa Owen, Kentucky senior organizer of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign, said East Kentucky Power was seeking "federal bailouts" for its "old, dirty, uneconomic" coal plants.
"Rather than begging for handouts, EKPC should be thinking about how to best prepare their service territory for the future and how to protect their customers from costs that are just going to keep going up the longer they delay," she said.
