The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development has approved a grant to East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC) to help fund the construction of a solar farm in Clark County.
USDA Rural Development announced a grant of $262,637 through its Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Loan and Grant program.
EKPC is constructing a 60-acre solar farm on its headquarters property adjacent to Interstate 64 between Lexington and Winchester. When completed later this year, the $18 million facility will feature 32,300 solar panels.
Members of EKPC’s 16 owner-member electric cooperatives can participate in the solar farm by licensing solar panels.
East Kentucky Power Cooperative is a not-for-profit, member-owned cooperative providing wholesale electricity to 16 owner-member distribution cooperatives that serve 530,000 Kentucky homes, farms, businesses and industries across 87 counties.
EKPC provides power through coal-fueled plants located in Mason and Pulaski counties; natural gas-fueled peaking units in Clark and Oldham counties; renewable energy plants in Barren, Boone, Laurel, Greenup, Hardin and Pendleton counties; and more than 2,800 miles of transmission lines.
Together, EKPC and its 16 owner-member cooperatives are known as Kentucky's Touchstone Energy Cooperatives.
(provided by East Kentucky Power Cooperative)
