Pike County Energy Strategy

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2009

Pike County, Kentucky has been appropriately named “America’s Energy Capital” for its vast reserves of minable coal and recoverable natural gas as well as its surplus of timber and biomass resource. However, despite these extensive natural resources, the county found itself identified as an “at risk county” by the Appalachian Regional Commission. Thus, the county recognized that the outflow of present, available labor and the loss of the next generation workforce due to non-existent professional opportunities required immediate action. The county’s energy plan, therefore, sought to utilize its vast resources to develop its economy through sustainable, high-wage jobs, while also contributing concrete solutions to the energy crisis facing the country. The energy plan has called for feasibility studies to demonstrate its capability to construct and house energy plants and research centers. Working jointly with private industries, the county planned for the development of the American Energy Research Center as well as the construction of a coal-to-liquid plant, a biomass ethanol facility, and the regional headquarters for a natural gas company. The county’s energy strategy has identified specific initiatives that will create jobs, lead the region to energy-efficiency and independence, and ensure long-term economic stability for the county.