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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Report: Kentucky Solar Industry Plays Catch-Up

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Thursday, March 5, 2015   

FRANKFORT, Ky. - A dim finding on solar jobs in Kentucky. The latest Solar Jobs Census places Kentucky 44th per capita in terms of work in the solar industries. Matt Partymiller, operating manager of Lexington-based Solar Energy Solutions, the oldest solar energy provider in a state, which he says "couldn't really get much further behind."

"Behind in terms of building an industry that can knowledgeably and cost-effectively install solar at scales from commercial through utility," says Partymiller.

Two House committees are hearing testimony on the proposed Clean Energy Opportunity Act. It's touted as a "jobs bill" by the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance, a coalition of 53 organizations and businesses.

Among those supporting the bill is an expert from North Carolina, where 37,000 renewable energy jobs have been created since passing similar legislation in 2007.

The legislation would require power companies to expand clean energy and energy efficiency efforts - which supporters say would create jobs and lower utility bills. One of them is Josh Bills, who coordinates the Energy Efficient Enterprises program.

"By far the lowest-hanging fruits for reducing the cost of energy for everybody would be advancing energy efficiency," says Bills.

He thinks the Clean Energy Opportunity Act is needed because there's "no real state-backed mandate" for demand-side management by utility companies.

According to Partymiller, Kentucky law caps solar generation by customers, what's known as net metering, at 30 kilowatts. He says that's about three times as much solar energy as what the average home needs, but ...

"It certainly prevents us from having legitimate commercial, industrial, institutional market," says Partymiller. "It makes the chance to work on projects like a school or a military base essentially novel in the state of Kentucky."

Partymiller notes neighboring Ohio allows unlimited net metering. The House Economic Development Committee meets at 9 a.m. Thursday. The House Tourism Development and Energy Committee, which has House Bill 229, meets at 10 a.m.


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