After months of contentious debate, the Frankfort Plant Board approved an agreement with a solar energy provider for the next 20 years.
Tuesday night’s FPB Board of Directors meeting added a few more hours of debate before the board ultimately voted 3-2 to approve the power purchase agreement, procured through the Kentucky Municipal Energy Agency. Specifically, the board directed FPB interim General Manager David Denton, a KYMEA board member, to vote in favor of the agreement at KYMEA’s board meeting Thursday in Bowling Green.
KYMEA’s search for a renewable-energy provider is motivated by the intent to balance its coal-heavy portfolio.
Under the agreement, which KYMEA consultant John Painter said was chosen out of more than 200 proposals through a competitive bidding process, Frankfort will purchase more than 50 megawatts of capacity from the unnamed supplier. This supplier has secured more than 1,000 acres for its 86 MW project, of which KYMEA would purchase 53.75 and a separate group would purchase the rest, if all goes according to plan.