New sections of LG&E and KU’s Solar Share facility are complete
Two new sections of Louisville Gas & Electric’s and Kentucky Utilities’ Solar Share facility in Simpsonville, Kent., are now fully operational.
The subscription-based Solar Share program is available to the utilities’ residential, business, and industrial customers who want to support solar energy for as little as 20 cents per day. The Solar Share site is now 50 percent complete.
“Watching the site develop and knowing it is a direct result of our customers’ interest and participation has been both exciting and rewarding,” LG&E and KU Vice President-Customer Services Eileen Saunders said. “We developed this program in response to their desire to support local solar generation, and we’re pleased to continue helping all of our customer categories advance their personal and professional sustainability goals.”
When energy is produced by the facility, customers earn credits on their monthly bills based on their subscription level. By participating in the program, customers benefit from solar energy without paying the added up-front and long-term expenses that come when installing and maintaining a private solar system. Since July 2019, the facility has produced more than 2 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy for participating customers.
Solar Alliance completed construction of the two sections this month. Both consist of 1,150 solar panels. A total of eight 500-kilowatt Solar Share sections are planned for the Simpsonville facility, for a total of 4 megawatts. Construction of each section is completed as each becomes fully subscribed. The utility is currently accepting enrollments for the fifth section, which is now about 80 percent subscribed.
LG&E and KU are subsidiaries of the PPL Corp. LG&E serves 332,000 natural gas and 425,000 electric customers in Louisville and 16 surrounding counties. KU serves 564,000 customers in 77 Kentucky counties and five counties in Virginia.
