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State senator wants Frankfort utility to sell its internet service; utility questions why
FRANKFORT — Walking to his office in the state capitol annex last month, state Sen. Gex Williams pulled out his phone to show a photo of a billboard that appeared in Frankfort weeks earlier. The billboard along a well-traveled street displays in bold, white font the words, “OUR COMMUNITY IS NOT FOR SALE,” along with […]
State-run disaster relief funds had error rates below 1%, two reports find
Nearly all relief payments to Kentucky disaster survivors from state-run relief funds were made without error, according to reports released Tuesday, one by the Kentucky auditor and another by an inspector general in the Beshear administration. Republican Auditor Mike Harmon and the Office of the Inspector General of the Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet launched […]
Kentucky Power lowers proposed rate hike after pushback. Some ratepayers say it’s still too much.
Letcher County Judge-Executive Terry Adams walked up to a microphone inside a hearing room in Frankfort Tuesday morning, one of numerous people who had given public comments over the past few weeks to the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC). The utility regulator over the upcoming days will be questioning Kentucky Power executives and other witnesses […]
Kentucky could win ‘massive’ solar investment in federal competition. Here’s what’s possible.
An unlikely collaboration between a Kentucky coalfield county and Kentucky’s largest city began when a former high school English teacher, Megan Downey, walked into the Lawrence County courthouse in Louisa in August. Inspired by a personal desire to find ways to tackle the impacts of climate change, Downey had launched a nonprofit called The Solar […]
Kentucky’s next agriculture commissioner names transition team
Kentucky’s next agriculture commissioner has appointed more than two dozen people including farmers and Republican elected officials to a transition team that plans to begin its work at the end of the week. Republican Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture-Elect Jonathan Shell named Steve Kelly of Anderson County and Jon Copley of Oldham County as co-chairs of […]
Lawsuit alleges federal agencies failing to protect ‘imperiled’ crayfish, darter from coal mining impacts
Two environmental advocacy groups are suing federal agencies for allegedly failing to implement conservation protections for hundreds of coal mines, including those in Eastern Kentucky, whose discharges into waterways could harm endangered and threatened aquatic life. Appalachian Voices and the Center for Biological Diversity, in a lawsuit filed in federal district court Wednesday, alleged hundreds […]
Beshear declares state of emergency to help combat Eastern Kentucky wildfires
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency Thursday in an effort to provide more resources for combating wildfires across the state, particularly in Eastern Kentucky. A Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet release Thursday afternoon said that state Division of Forestry officials are responding to dozens of wildfires across the state and are working […]
Kentucky’s largest utility will retire some coal-fired power, boost renewable energy
Kentucky’s utility regulator has given a green light to plans by the state’s largest utility to retire some of its coal-fired generation, build a natural gas-fired plant in Jefferson County and add renewable energy to its power generation portfolio. Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities (LG&E and KU) had asked the Kentucky Public Service […]
How to weigh in on Kentucky Power’s proposed 18% rate increase
The Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) is hosting multiple public meetings the next few weeks to receive input on electric utility Kentucky Power’s request to raise utility bills for the utility’s average residential customer by about 18%. Kentucky Power, an investor-owned utility serving about 163,000 customers in 20 Eastern Kentucky counties, already has the highest […]
Beshear and Cameron rally voters, make their final pitches across Kentucky
With hours left to make their cases to voters, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear and Republican challenger Attorney General Daniel Cameron spent Monday crisscrossing Kentucky and rallying their supporters to get out and vote. Tuesday polls will open at 6 a.m. and voters will decide which candidate will lead the commonwealth for the next four years. […]
Two words rarely heard on Kentucky’s campaign trail: Climate change
PROVIDENCE — Walking through a bathhouse at what until a few years ago was Webster County’s last operating coal mine is not just a moment for Tony Felker to revisit memories. It is also a window into a way of life that he recognizes is disappearing. Felker is quick to rattle through the nearly four […]
Second worker dies trapped in collapsed coal-preparation plant in Martin County
The second of two workers who were trapped inside a collapsed coal preparation plant in Martin County has died. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear in a Friday afternoon post on the social media platform X confirmed the death. The Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper had identified the second worker as 57-year-old Alvin Nees, who had been missing after […]