Review of Kentucky Municipal Energy Agency's Integrated Resource Plan
Apogee Climate and Energy Transitions (Apogee) engaged Synapse to review the publicly available documents associated with the Kentucky Municipal Energy Agency's (KYMEA) 2020 Integrated Resource Plan. Synapse provided Apogee with a memo detailing its concerns with KYMEA's IRP and providing short, medium, and long-term recommendations. Dr. Thomas Vitolo summarized these findings and recommendations in a public comment at a KYMEA Board meeting on September 24, 2020.
Dr. Vitolo advised the KYMEA Board against further investments in fossil-fuel power plants or long-term contracts. He explained that the KYMEA has no need to invest in new power supplies until 2027 at the earliest and is fortunate that a 100-Megawatt coal contract is expiring in 2022, freeing KYMEA of the plant’s costs and risks. Dr. Vitolo also noted that KYMEA had an immediate opportunity to reduce its commitment to a natural gas peaking power contract with Paducah Power Systems, from 90 Megawatts to 30 Megawatts. He advised the KYMEA to actively pursue re-negotiating each of their existing power contracts in light of the much lower prices available in MISO. Lastly, Dr. Vitolo observed that for the medium and long-term perspectives, in-state solar power contracts are likely to provide low-cost, low-risk, and reliable energy to their customers.