Solar systems at a farm in Versailles, Kentucky

From an Article by Dan Gearino, Inside Clean Energy, May 20, 2021

The people in Kentucky’s small rooftop solar industry are used to fighting for their livelihoods against utilities, but they aren’t used to winning. So a ruling last week from the Kentucky Public Service Commission was a surprise and a relief. The commission rejected a proposal from the utility Kentucky Power that would have gutted net metering, the policy that says rooftop solar owners can sell their excess electricity back to the grid.

Kentucky Power customers with rooftop solar have long been able to get the full retail rate for excess electricity. The utility had proposed to cut that rate to 4 cents per kilowatt-hour. The commission ruled that the rate will be 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, much more than the utility wanted and only a little bit less than the current level.

“My initial reaction to this decision was one of relief,” said Matt Partymiller, general manager at Solar Energy Solutions, a solar installer in Lexington and president of the Kentucky Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group. But, he added, “that feeling of relief was quickly followed by the realization that this part of a long continued effort that we’re going to have to be fighting against.”

Kentucky’s utilities and many of its elected officials have worked to stop rooftop solar from gaining a foothold, arguing that solar customers do not pay an appropriate share of the costs of maintaining the grid, even though the state has very little rooftop solar. Kentucky ranked 40th in the country in electricity generation from small solar systems in 2020, right behind Arkansas and ahead of Kansas, according to the Energy Information Administration.

A 2019 law, signed by then-Gov. Matt Bevin, a Republican, said that new solar customers would no longer get the full retail price for excess electricity. Utilities would need to submit proposals for the new rates to the commission. Kentucky Power, a subsidiary of Ohio-based American Electric Power, was the first major utility to propose new rates, making this case the commission’s first opportunity to show how it would interpret the law.

In its ruling, the commission disagreed with Kentucky Power’s arguments and found that the utility was undercounting the financial benefits of rooftop solar for the grid. Also, the commission called attention to how small the problem was that Kentucky Power was trying to solve, noting that there were only 46 households benefiting from net metering in the utility’s territory in 2020.

The utility said those households were getting an unfair subsidy from net metering that added up to about $40,000 per year. The commission responded by saying that this “purported subsidy” amounts to only 24 cents per year for each of the utility’s non-solar customers and is a small fraction of other subsidies embedded in Kentucky Power’s rates.

“It was Kentucky Power’s intent to provide a fair and balanced approach for all customers, not just the net metering customers,” said Cindy Wiseman, a Kentucky Power spokeswoman, in an email in response to a question about the commission’s ruling. “Our regulatory team is still reviewing the order and discussing it to gain a better understanding of the path forward.”

The three-member commission has one member who was appointed by Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, and two who were appointed by Bevin.

Partymiller, whose company has about 35 employees and may be the largest solar installer in the state, was careful not to overstate the significance of the decision, because it just covers one utility, and the commission still needs to rule on other utilities’ plans.

He said the rooftop solar industry has some big challenges in Kentucky even with this ruling. One of the biggest is a law that sets a cap on how much customer-owned electricity generation can come online before there is a drastic cut in net metering rates. This law, which predates the 2019 net metering legislation, will kick in when rooftop solar and other customer-owned resources hit 1 percent of peak electricity demand in each utility’s territory.

Kentucky Power probably is years away from hitting the 1 percent cap, but the mere existence of the cap is a problem because it puts a ceiling on growth for solar companies, Partymiller said.

He said he would like to see the Legislature and governor increase the cap or repeal it, but he also knows that there is a long fight ahead to make that happen.

I have read many decisions by state regulatory commissions about net metering, and the Kentucky ruling stands out for the methodical way it dismantles some common arguments made against rooftop solar about how non-solar customers are heavily subsidizing customers with solar. I would not be surprised to see the Kentucky commission’s findings cited in other states to argue for the benefits of rooftop solar, something I was not expecting, but there it is.

Natural gas fire in northeastern KY about 80 miles west of Ashland, KY

From an Article by Steve Rogers, WTVQ, ABC News 36, May 5, 2020

FLEMING COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ) – An investigation is underway Tuesday morning after a gas line explosion caused a huge fire off Highway 1013 in Fleming County on Monday afternoon, May 4th, according to Fleming County Emergency Management.

The pipeline is owned by Texas Eastern, which has a history in the state, including a fatal explosion last summer in Lincoln County. But despite the two incidents, experts say such explosions are rare.

In the video, shot by pilot Josh Clark, flames can be seen blazing through timberland on a hill. The fire was reported just before 5:00 p.m.

The pipeline explosion was three miles outside of Hillsboro, according to emergency management officials. The explosion and subsequent fire was in a remote area. No homes or businesses were threatened, according to emergency management. No one was hurt.

The pipeline belongs to Texas Eastern, according to emergency management officials. The cause of the explosion is under investigation.

An estimated 200 acres on the hillside burned, according to emergency management. No land in the Daniel Boone National Forest was affected, according to officials.

The fire was extinguished on Monday night (5/4/20) and Texas Eastern secured the area so repairs and an investigation could begin Tuesday morning. Residents said on Facebook the explosion could be heard and smoke could be seen for miles.

This is the third Texas Eastern pipeline explosion in the state in the last 17 years and the second in less than a year.

The Lincoln County explosion on Aug. 1, 2019 killed one person, injured more than a dozen, forced the evacuation of 75 people from the Indian Camp mobile home park, destroyed five homes, damaged 14 others and burned about 30 acres. including railroad tracks owned and operated by Norfolk Southern Corporation.

Lawsuits still are pending over that explosion.

On Nov. 2, 2003 in Morehead, a Texas Eastern pipeline released about 167,100 million cubic feet of natural gas which ignited. There were no fatalities or injuries as a result of that explosion.

###########################

See also: Eastern Kentucky pipeline explodes, the second in the year, Louisville Courier-Journal, May 4, 2020

A spokesman for Enbridge, the Canadian-based energy conglomerate that owns the Texas Eastern Transmission Co. pipeline, said in a statement that company crews are on-site and have “secured the area.”

The 30-inch pipe that exploded, Line 10, feeds into the Texas Eastern System — a network of 9,100 miles of piping that stretches from Texas to New York and moves 20% of America’s natural gas.

About 690 of those piping miles run through the state of Kentucky, from Lewis County on the Ohio border to Monroe County on the Tennessee border.

Adjacent Lines 15 and 25, which are also part of the Texas Eastern, have also been shut down, according to the pipeline safety administration.

These natural gas pipelines have a history of fatal blasts before this Kentucky explosion.

Texas Eastern 30 inch Natural Gas Pipeline explodes of unknown cause

From an Article by Bill Estep, Mike Stunson, and Rebekah Alvey, Lexington Herald-Leader, August 02, 2019

The NTSB is investigating after a gas pipeline exploded, destroying homes, killing a woman and injuring several others early Thursday in Lincoln County, authorities said.

The explosion occurred in the Indian Camp Trailer Park about 1:20 a.m. just outside Junction City, Kentucky, and flames shot up 300 feet in the air, according to Lincoln County Emergency Management director Don Gilliam.

The fire — that could be seen dozens of miles away in Lexington and other communities — engulfed some homes and damaged others while residents fled. Nine homes were destroyed or extensively damaged, Gilliam said.

“We are immensely sorry,” said Devin Hotzel, spokesman for Enbridge, the parent company of Texas Eastern that owns the line. He apologized during a meeting Thursday night to help affected residents with their immediate housing, food and medication needs.

Lisa Denise Derringer, 58, was killed, the Lincoln County coroner’s office told WKYT. An autopsy was scheduled for Thursday, Kentucky State Police Trooper Robert Purdy said. Her daughter, Candy Ellis, wrote on Facebook that her mother called in her last moments. “She called me but couldn’t speak this morning,” Ellis said. “I have to believe that her heart was at peace when I was calling her name.”

At least five were injured in the blast, Gilliam said. The injuries did not appear to be life-threatening. Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center in Danville treated five injured victims and four were released, a spokesperson said.

Kentucky State Police Trooper Robert Purdy describes how a deputy rescued two people who were in danger after a gas pipeline explosion in Lincoln County Ky., on Aug. 1, 2019.

One of the injured was a Lincoln County sheriff’s deputy who helped rescue an elderly man and woman. “Without him being there at the right time, we could have had more casualties than what we had,” Purdy said of the deputy.

Although up to seven people were unaccounted for in the early hours after the blast, by noon Thursday, all had been located, Purdy said. The fire was out by 8 a.m., Purdy said. Anything within 500 yards of the fire and explosion had some kind of damage, he added.

Of the nine hardest hit homes, five were destroyed and four were extensively damaged. More received less serious damage. Others were uninhabitable temporarily with water and electric service turned off. Enbridge will provide assistance, including temporary housing, to victims if needed, Hotzel said.

”There is just nothing left,” Gilliam said of some of the homes.

Initial reports indicated a gas line had ruptured, triggering the blast. Victims were amazed they survived the inferno. “It was either stay and burn up or run and burn up,” said Denver Coulter whose home burned. “I still don’t see how we got out alive.”

Judy Gooch was jolted from her bed by a “horrendous” roaring sound at her mobile home and when she looked outside it was like daylight, she said. The home was shaking. “We just saw flames shooting up over the roof. The air was so hot it would take your breath,” Gooch said. She and her 16-year-old granddaughter escaped in their car. “There was a lot of people running from the fire,” and to the road, she said.

New Hope Baptist Church served as a shelter for fire victims and those who left their surrounding houses in fear after the mobile home park blast. Initally, about 75 people were sent to the church, Lincoln County Deputy Jim Vines said. A 1.5 mile stretch of U.S. 127 between Junction City and Hustonville also was temporarily closed, Vines added.

Some affected residents at Thursday night’s meeting were petrified to return to their homes and received assurances they could. “Everybody … is scared to death that it’s going to happen again,” said Mary Jo Wood whose home was destroyed.

The 30-inch ruptured gas line that caused the explosion was shut off afterward, according to James McGuffey, Enbridge area manager. The company had multiple representatives at the site. A cause for the rupture was not immediately known, and it could take several days to determine, he added.

The pipeline was one of three in the area, according to McGuffey. Pressure was decreased drastically in the other two in case they were compromised in some way by the explosion. The ruptured pipeline, a Texas Eastern transmission line, stretches more than 9,000 miles from the Mexico border in Texas to New York City.

On Jan. 21, the same natural gas pipeline exploded in Noble County, Ohio, causing the destruction of two homes and injuries to two people, according to multiple media reports. The pipeline will be the focus of the National Transportation Safety Board which said it was sending three investigators to Kentucky.

Some residents living on or near the gas lines feared an accident while others didn’t, even after Thursday’s blast. Jason Griffitts who owns a farm adjoining the mobile home park said he worries more about a train derailment from tracks that run behind the house than he worries about the three gas lines that run under the land about 460 feet away from the house.

A blast like Thursday’s is “such a rarity,” he said. He got a visit from gas company representatives previously and they instructed him on the signs — hissing, dirt blowing up, dead vegetation — of a gas leak. It’s not clear if there were any advance signs that trouble was brewing in the mobile home park before Thursday.

“It was like a rocket turned upside down.” Witness describes scene of fire. Keith Demaree lives near where a natural-gas pipeline exploded early Aug. 1 in Lincoln County, Ky., that killed one woman. He said the frightening blast sent flames shooting 300 feet high. Gilliam, the emergency manager for the county, said he wakes up in the night concerned about the pipelines.

“When you get age on ‘em, you can’t help but be concerned,” he said. “I don’t know who would want to build next to a pipeline.” Despite the death and damage, the community got lucky Thursday because the results could have been much worse, Gilliam said.

“Our prayers are with all the families whom this disaster has touched, and our gratitude is with all the first responders who rushed toward towering flames to protect their neighbors and communities,” the Kentucky Republican said.

Laura Sioux Kirkpatrick wrote on Facebook her parents lost everything in the fire. She said her mother was burned but OK. “My step dad who is a Marine said he thought it was a nuclear attack it was so bright and the house walls was just melting right in front of their eyes,” Kirkpatrick wrote. “We don’t know how they got out alive but they did barely and at one point was trapped in the house and was for sure they where not going to get out.”