FRANKFORT, KY (March 29, 2023) – The following is a statement from Senator Robby Mills regarding the passage of State Senate Bill 4 without Governor Beshear’s signature. The bill, sponsored by Senator Robby Mills, will help protect the state’s electric grid from the threat posed by the ill-advised closure of much of the state’s coal-fired electric generation fleet.
“For the sake of Kentucky ratepayers and the job-producing coal industry being bludgeoned by federal regulations, I am happy Senate Bill 4 will be state law. While it would have been great for the Governor to stand in solidarity with the legislature and Kentucky residents by placing his signature on Senate Bill 4, we should be grateful that Governor Beshear is currently running for re-election and decided that no action was more politically expedient.”
Senate Bill 4 strengthens electric grid reliability in the Commonwealth and ensures Kentucky’s residents are not faced with the dangerous and sometimes deadly consequences of power outages, “brown-outs,” or “black-outs.” The bill would prohibit the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) from authorizing the retirement of a fossil-fuel-fired electric power generating unit unless the utility can demonstrate that:
- The utility will replace the retired unit with a new electric generating capacity that is dispatchable; maintains or improves the reliability and resilience of the electric transmission grid; and maintains the adequate minimum reserve capacity;
- The retirement of the unit will not harm the utility’s ratepayers by causing the utility to incur costs to be recovered from the ratepayers that could be avoided by continuing to operate the unit.
- The decision to retire the unit is not the result of any financial incentives or benefits offered by any federal agency. Additional bill provisions would require the PSC to submit an annual report by December 1 to the Legislative Research Commission on the retirement of electric generating units.
Senate Bill 4 carries an emergency designation, which means it became effective state law immediately upon filing with the Kentucky Secretary of State’s Office.
Senator Robby Mills, R-Henderson, represents the 4th Senate District, including Henderson, Hopkins, Union, and Webster Counties. He serves as Senate State and Local Government Committee chair and is a Senate Economic Development, Tourism and Labor; Natural Resources; and Energy and Transportation committee member. Additionally, he is a Public Pension Oversight Board member and a member of the Budget Review Subcommittee on General Government, Finance and Public Protection.
For more information contact Tucker Davis at the Kentucky Coal Association at (859)233-4743 or via email at tdavis@kentuckycoal.com.
