New funding from the federal Empowering Rural America program will allow the East Kentucky Power Cooperative to add more than 750 megawatts of solar energy to rural portions of Kentucky.

Co-op officials are currently seeking regulatory approval for a pair of solar installations in Fayette County, which would generate renewable energy for co-op members.

Nick Comer, external affairs manager for the co-op, said the project will cut emissions from the grid equivalent to the annual pollution from 554,000 gasoline-powered cars.

“Solar facilities will produce electricity when the sun is shining; that’s no associated greenhouse gas emissions,” Comer pointed out. “We estimate this will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 3 million tons annually.”

The co-op will receive additional funding in the form of tax credits on top of the $1.4 billion from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-sponsored program. The East Kentucky Power Cooperative generates electricity for 16 power distribution cooperatives across the state.

The project has generated some controversy, as some Kentucky agriculture advocates claim building the solar farms on 400 acres of prime agricultural land would not be the best use of the resource. Comer countered the installation will not harm the land long-term.

“It will have minimal impact on the land,” Comer explained. “Once the solar facility has been used for 20 or 30 years and is no longer used for that, it could be returned to agricultural purposes at that point.”

The funding is part of a $7.3 billion USDA program made available through the Inflation Reduction Act. The program specifically targets rural member-owned electric cooperatives in a move to eliminate greenhouse gasses produced by burning coal and natural gas contributing to climate change.

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