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Kentucky Energy Cooperative Studying Owensboro Site for Natural Gas Plant

OMU.ORG

  A statewide cooperative of municipal utilities is considering a site in Owensboro for a new natural gas plant to generate electricity. The Kentucky Municipal Energy Agency is doing a study on the feasibility of building a natural gas electric generating plant at the site of Owensboro’s aging Elmer Smith plant.

A consultant working with the statewide energy cooperative said Owensboro is one option under consideration for future power supply. Owensboro Municipal Utilities decided to switch to new sources of energy after burning coal for more than 100 years. OMU will shut down one unit of the coal-fired Elmer Smith plant by 2019 and the second unit by 2023.

Now the city is looking for new sources of energy. One option is for the cooperative to own a plant in Owensboro, and enter into a contractual agreement with the city to supply its energy. The Kentucky Municipal Energy Agency is expecting to decide on power supply resources during the summer.

 

Rhonda Miller began as reporter and host for All Things Considered on WKU Public Radio in 2015. She has worked as Gulf Coast reporter for Mississippi Public Broadcasting, where she won Associated Press, Edward R. Murrow and Green Eyeshade awards for stories on dead sea turtles, health and legal issues arising from the 2010 BP oil spill and homeless veterans.
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