A Cooperative Approach to Renewing East Kentucky

by Sara Pennington and Randy Wilson from Solutions. 

We propose that the East Kentucky Power Cooperative and their 16 distribution cooperatives launch an aggressive, well-funded, five-year energy efficiency and renewable energy initiative—called "Renew East Kentucky"—in the EKPC service area.

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This program could create thousands of local jobs and, by diversifying the regional energy portfolio, yield additional economic benefit to struggling families. It would work in collaboration with ongoing regional efforts in affordable housing and more recent efforts to re-tool Kentucky's workforce for green energy jobs. The proposal may serve as a road map for transition in other areas.

The only catch is...the plan would need federal dollars to launch it. And as we all know, the US government needs all this money in its unending war against "terrorists".