A rapid energy transition is providing unevenly distributed opportunities across the U.S., and one of the nation's top energy regulators is excited to bring a potentially tricky conversation back to his home state of Kentucky.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Neil Chatterjee scheduled an Oct. 21 summit in Lexington, Ky., that will bring together key decision-makers to exchange ideas about the ongoing energy transition that is rattling a state with deep ties to the coal industry. The U.S. has seen its coal-fired power plant fleet go from fueling nearly half of the nation's power to holding just around a quarter of generation share in only a few years. The situation could get more complicated for Kentucky, and other coal-dependent states, as natural gas and renewable energy continue to eat up their former market share.
"We've got people coming from all sectors of the energy economy from gas and pipelines to coal, to nuclear, to solar, to wind, to storage," Chatterjee told S&P Global Market Intelligence on the sidelines of the Southern States Energy Board in meeting Louisville, Ky. "We've got consumer advocates, we've got environmental groups, we've got labor unions. I want to have a collective discussion."
In part, Chatterjee hopes to highlight some of the work FERC is doing in the energy sector. He also wants to give people in Washington, D.C., and other places in the country who are making big decisions about the nation's energy future a chance to hear from people in his home state.
"I want folks engaged in the national energy dialogue and making decisions to hear from Kentuckians about what we're facing here," Chatterjee said in a Sept. 24 interview. "I think it's important for folks to understand the challenges that the energy transition is posing in certain parts of the country. The benefits aren't being felt equally."
Kentucky produced about 108.8 million tons of coal in 2011, a figure that fell to just 41.8 million tons of annual production by the end of 2017, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data. At the same Southern States Energy Board event, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin suggested the state still believed in the value of coal-fired power as the Republican governor insisted on a promising future for the fuel and cast skepticism about the limitations of renewable energy.
"With technological advances in battery and energy storage technology, their contribution will likely grow, certainly, proportionally, at a faster rate than fossil fuels itself," Bevin said. "My point here is that where we are today, with the current technology, the current landscape, the current demand, the reality is that renewables cannot come close to meeting the demand [for power generation]."
Murray Energy Corp. CEO Robert Murray, a vocal Trump administration supporter who runs the largest private coal company in the U.S., is scheduled to deliver the luncheon address during the event, E&E News reported Sept. 26.
During a speech to state lawmakers at the Southern States Energy Board event, Chatterjee said he hopes that the summit will be a chance to sell Kentucky as a prime location for energy businesses and jobs.
"I'm hopeful that by facilitating this conversation and making some of these introductions, that we can draw some of this capital — some of these investments and some of the benefits of the energy transition — here to the Commonwealth," Chatterjee told lawmakers, including governors from Kentucky, Wyoming and Oklahoma. "I think it's important to know that in the midst of these big shifts that we have been discussing, we're also seeing some positive impacts in places."
Chatterjee, a former energy policy adviser to Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.,
"I see big potential for new energy technologies and the jobs they produce in some of the harder-hit communities," Chatterjee said. "I know we have a talent here not only to run the mines and the plants but also to build and maintain transmission lines, battery storage facilities, wind turbines — whatever new technology comes next. These are the kinds of conversations that we need to be having more often."
