Kentucky has seen unprecedented economic growth in recent years, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down. For our company, that means producing more energy to meet customers’ needs. Every three years, utilities are required to file resource planning with the Kentucky Public Service Commission (KPSC) that includes a forecast of load and resources needed to serve customers safely, reliably and at the lowest reasonable cost in the years to come. The company filed the latest Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) in the fall, and it included the need for additional generation due to the expected influx of data centers and economic development across the utilities’ service territories.
By 2032, we expect economic development to increase the current system load by 30 to 45 percent. This unprecedented load growth will require additional generation to continue to provide the reliable electric service that customers expect. The IRP also addresses uncertainties around the latest environmental regulations, some of which are currently in litigation.
In the IRP, the company recommends adding modern natural gas units and solar and battery storage, installing more environmental technologies at generating stations and retiring aging coal-fired generation that is at the end of its economic life.
While the IRP is part of the planning process, any new generation requires a filing with and approval from the KPSC. Learn more about the IRP and how we plan to continue to serve our communities.
