The Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance held a meeting June 1 at the Lexington Public Library’s Northside Branch. The meeting was open not only for KySEA members but included other organizations interested in supporting clean energy in Kentucky.
There was great turnout and lots of new faces at the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance June 1 meeting in Lexington. 40 people representing 28 different organizations, groups and businesses came together to learn about the Kentucky energy landscape, KySEA, each other and how to take the next steps of moving Kentucky to a clean energy future.
The goals for the meeting were to:
- Continue to build relationships and understanding about our work – independently and collectively.
- Report and evaluate work on clean energy issues in the 2010 Gen. Assembly.
- Inform/educate ourselves about one or more topics related to clean energy.
- Review, improve and affirm a proposed action plan for remainder of 2010.
- Identify ways for each group to participate.
People left the meeting both exhausted and energized, "It was like drinking from a fire hose," said Dick Watkins of Frankfort Climate Action Network, "But the groups and the day were great."
First in the morning was a six-month recap of the need for state clean energy policy, Kentucky’s energy challenge, and KySEA’s history, principals and policy priorities.
Following the “look-back” was a brief summary of energy policy and politics in the 2010 Legislative session and what KySEA’s goals and accomplishments were.
The morning ended with a round-robin set of education sessions on:
- Using feed-in tariffs as a tool to drive renewable energy
- Creating an Energy Efficiency Trust Fund
- Renewable Portfolio Standards
The afternoon was spent planning KySEA’s work leading up to the 2011 General Assembly. Through small and large group discussions those attending fleshed out an outline, develop specific steps and create teams for accomplishing our plan.
