Prairie State Coal Plant Tracker

LOUISVILLE, KY — “A large coal-burning power plant in Illinois that provides electricity to some areas of Western Kentucky and Indiana is under fire. A non-profit analyzed the costs of the plant and the numbers suggest ratepayers in eight states are paying more than they should.

Prairie State is a 1600 megawatt coal plant just outside of St. Louis. It’s owned in part by nine municipal energy agencies and co-ops. One of those is the Kentucky Municipal Power Agency (KMPA) which owns nearly eight percent of the plant and provides power to the Paducah area. KMPA issued nearly $500 million in bonds to buy its share of the generation, and is now selling electricity to power companies in Paducah and Princeton.

But according to a report, ratepayers getting their power from Prairie State are paying a premium. The data compiled by the non-profit Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis says the project’s cost was higher than expected, and costs for Prairie State’s power will only go up.

— Erica Peterson, WFPL Radio

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PADUCAH, KY — “One group claims a billion dollar project aimed at saving you money on your power bill might actually cost you more in the long run.

— Todd Faulkner, WPSD TV

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• PSEC Commitment: 124 MW
• Participant Communities: 2
• Power Purchase Agreement: Take-or-Pay
• Bonds Outstanding: $ 512 Million

KMPA is a join public agency duly organized under provisions of Chapter 65 of the Kentucky Revised Statutes pursuant to an Interlocal Cooperation Agreement dated February 7, 2005 entered into by KMPA’s founding Members, the Electric Plant Board of the City of Paducah, Kentucky and the Electric Plant Board of the City of Princeton, Kentucky (“Princeton Electric”) both of which are municipal utilities located in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

The Paducah Electric system consists of approximately 22,500 customers. Approximately 18,700 or 83% are residential customers approximately 3,320 or 15% are small and large commercial customers, and the remaining 3% are classified as “other” customers. Paducah Electric is entitled to purchase 83.9% of KMPA’s share of the Project and Princeton Electric is entitled to purchase the remaining 16.1%.

The Princeton Electric system consists of approximately 3,930 total customers. Approximately 3,125 or 80% are residential customers, approximately 715 or 18% are small and large commercial customers, 78, or 2% are industrial customers and the remaining less than 1% are classified as “other” customers. Each of the Power Sales Agreements is a “take-or-pay” agreement which each Member has agreed to pay for its portion of KMPA’s share of the Project at rates sufficient to enable KMPA to recover all of its costs incurred with respect to the Project. From time to time, in the event that one or both of the Members do not require the full entitlement of their respective shares of the Project’s output, KMPA will make an effort to sell such unused power and energy in the energy marketplace.

Complete list of member communities

PADUCAH, KY — “A key partner has pulled out of the planned Prairie State Energy Campus in southern Illinois even after its financial problems contributed to an 18-month delay in construction of the $2.5 billion plant.

— Joe Walker, The Paducah Sun

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