Kentucky gets clean coal tax credit

Clean coal plants receive tax credits

The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal


LOUISVILLE, KY. — To cut pollution and boost U.S. sources of power, the Energy Department has started awarding tax credits to build clean-burning coal plants, including one in Trimble County, Ky.

Louisville Gas & Electric Co. and Kentucky Utilities were awarded a $125 million federal tax credit Thursday for building a 750-megawat plant that burns pulverized coal at higher temperatures and pressure than older units to create more electricity and less air pollution. The credit, part of $1 billion handed out to nine companies nationwide, effectively lowers the cost of the $1.2 billion Kentucky power plant by more than 10 percent.

"There is more energy available in U.S. coal than in nearly all of the oil in the world, and these tax credits will help us fund ways to use coal in an environmentally sensitive way," Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said.

Coal-fired plants provide nearly half of U.S. electricity supplies but emit mercury, sulfur and carbon dioxide, which many blame for global warming. Last year, Congress approved $1.65 billion for tax credits for clean-coal technology. The remaining $650 million will be awarded next year, the Energy Department said.