Date: 07-19-2017
Duke Energy bringing solar power project to Grant Co.
Grant County News
Grant County will host one of the Three small solar power facilities brought to northern Kentucky through Duke Energy.
The Kentucky Public Service Commission approved a proposal by Duke Energy Kentucky on July 10 to build the Grant County plant, along with two in Kenton County, according to a press release from the PSC.
Duke Kentucky said the facilities would be used to develop experience with small-scale solar power in preparation for adding more renewable power sources over the next decade.
The PSC said that, by building the solar facilities now, Duke Kentucky is making use of a 30 percent federal tax credit and is taking advantage of current low prices for solar panels.
Duke Kentucky said in the application process that power from the solar arrays will supplement power produced from its fossil fuel-fired power plants.
The arrays will generate solar renewable energy certificates, which can be sold in Ohio, with a portion of the revenue flowing back to Duke Energy Kentucky customers as a credit.
Duke Energy Kentucky’s nearly 97,000 natural gas customers are not affected by this case, according to the release.
The Kentucky section of the company serves about 139,000 electric customers in five counties in Northern Kentucky.
Duke Energy Kentucky entered agreements to purchase both sites. Two arrays will be on property near Walton, and the other array will be built on a site near Crittenden in Grant County. Each will produce up to two megawatts, a unit of power used to measure the output of power plants that is equal to one million watts.
Duke Energy Kentucky will have evergreen trees planted along the property borders to minimize the visual impact on local neighborhoods. The company said it will host community meetings to discuss the projects and obtain input from neighbors living close to the sites.
The total estimated cost of the three solar arrays will be $14.8 million, with an annual operating and maintenance cost of $132,000. There will be no immediate impact on rates, although Duke Energy Kentucky said it will eventually seek to recover the costs from ratepayers.
Andrew Melnykovych, director of communications for the PSC, said the facility will undoubtedly have an economic impact on Grant County during the initial construction phase, but added that the impact will probably wear off after completion since solar plants require less upkeep than fossil fuel plants.
“The nature of the facility doesn’t require a lot of ongoing operational maintenance or daily supervision,” Melnykovych said.
Melnykovych said he doesn’t know how many employees it will take to build the facility, but noted that the much larger solar power plant built by Kentucky Utilities in Woodford County employed several dozen people for several months.
“There’s certainly going to be a short-term economic impact during the construction phase because you’ll have those folks that are there in the community building the project,” Melnykovych said, noting that he is unsure how many employees will be local hires.
State Rep. Brian Linder, who represents the district encompassing Grant County, serves as the regional energy manager for the Grant County school districts in his regular job. Linder said that it will take some time for solar technology to develop into a viable, inexpensive power supply; therefore it is unlikely that the incoming plant will have a significant impact on Grant County.
“I really do not see it affecting Grant County at all. I believe it will only produce around seven megawatts of power. A typical small coal-fired power plant produces 150 megawatts,” Linder said.
Linder added that Grant County likely wouldn’t experience any permanent job growth resulting from the plant. He said there might be a few temporary jobs for installation, but those will be very minimal.
Once it is up and running, Linder said he doubts there will be any staff to manage it, noting that when Owen Electric installed methane gas power plants at the landfills, they were operated remotely by a computer system from Winchester.
“The solar industry needs to improve its efficiency first. Solar power is still very expensive compared to coal and natural gas powered electricity. Propping the industry up with government subsidies will actually slow down the development of more efficient solar panels,” Linder said. “Kentucky, as well as the United States, needs to let market forces improve the reliability, size, and cost of solar. It may be the energy of tomorrow, but there are still cheaper forms of energy today.”
The polar project will be located off I-75 on portions of a 110-acre site at 922 Ruark Road in Dry Ridge.
