New LG&E and KU Solar Share facility begins operation

LG&E and KU officially opened on Wednesday the utilities’ new Solar Share facility in Simpsonville, Ky.

The 500-kilowatt, approximately 1,400-panel array became fully operational on Saturday.

The Solar Share Program is a subscription-based option available to the utilities’ residential, business and industrial customers who want to support solar energy. When the facility produces energy, customers earn credits on their monthly bills according to their subscription levels.

“This is a very special milestone for our company and our community,” LG&E and KU Chairman, CEO and President Paul W. Thompson said. “This program was created to meet an interest expressed by our customers and now this facility stands as a tangible display of the commitment our company, community leaders like Ford, and customers across our service territories have to growing sustainable energy here in the Commonwealth.”

The recently completed array is the first of eight 500-kilowatt Solar Share sections planned for the Simpsonville facility. The construction of each section is scheduled to be completed as each becomes fully subscribed. The facility site is large enough to accommodate a four-megawatt solar field, and the utilities plan to install fencing, plant landscape buffers and pollinator habitat at the site.

The utilities are currently accepting enrollments for the second 500-kilowatt section.

“Supporting initiatives like this, that push our community and the Commonwealth forward, is important for all of us,” Simpsonville Mayor Cary Vowels said. “We’re proud to be the home of this new solar facility.”