Kentucky Pioneer gets long-awaited approval from Kentucky board

摘要

Global Energy, the backer of the Kentucky Pioneer Energy project, received some long-awaited good news Nov.10 with the approval by a Kentucky board of the site permit for this 540-MW, coal gasification power project. That approval by the State Board on Electric Generation and Transmission Siting, though, is conditional on KPE obtaining final zoning approvals from officials in Clark County. This spring, the board rejected this application because those approvals weren't in place. But KPE convinced the board to extend its normal, 120-day review period to consider evidence that KPE did not require those zoning changes. The board noted in its Nov. 10 approval that KPE President Mike Musulin changed KPE's stance at an Aug. 22 hearing and promised that the company would seek the zoning changes. Musulin, a former president of the Kentucky Coal Association, argued for the conditional approval, giving the company time to get the local clearances.