Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Judge Rutherford Offers Support For Energy Development
Judge Rutherford announced today he has written Governor Steve Beshear voicing support for the Governor’s decision to seek federal funding for energy development. In addition, Judge Rutherford offered Pike County as a partner in that effort. Governor Beshear announced efforts were underway to seek participation in public-private partnerships on federal energy initiatives through the federal Department of Energy.
Rutherford took action in response to an announcement by the federal Department of Energy related to the restructuring of their participation in the FutureGen Project.
FutureGen was a U.S. Government project focusing on near zero-emissions coal-fueled power plants to produce hydrogen and electricity while using carbon capture and storage. The federal Department of Energy announced on January 29 it was withdrawing funding from FutureGen and was looking to restructure how the federal government would fund future energy development projects.
In response to Governor Beshear’s request, Judge Rutherford has contacted the Governor’s office to offer Pike County as a partner with the Commonwealth of Kentucky for potential public-private partnerships for a Request for Information due March 3, 2008.
“Through the County Office of Energy and Technology, Pike County is prepared to be a willing and active partner on energy development projects. With a long-term comprehensive energy strategy, Pike County is well-positioned to participate in these initiatives and will work actively to be of any assistance on future funding requests,” said Judge Rutherford.
Pike County has received nearly $900,000 to complete a feasibility study to site a coal-to-liquid plant in Pike County and the American Energy Research Center, a consortium of public and private entities working together to demonstrate and commercialize energy projects.
“We are moving forward with our study for a CTL plant, as well as the AERC. We have had a great response to our efforts to develop our energy resources. By working with Governor Beshear, as well as federal officials and corporate and community leaders, we will be successful in developing our County and to create good paying jobs for our people,” said Roger Ford, Director of Energy and Technology.
Rutherford took action in response to an announcement by the federal Department of Energy related to the restructuring of their participation in the FutureGen Project.
FutureGen was a U.S. Government project focusing on near zero-emissions coal-fueled power plants to produce hydrogen and electricity while using carbon capture and storage. The federal Department of Energy announced on January 29 it was withdrawing funding from FutureGen and was looking to restructure how the federal government would fund future energy development projects.
In response to Governor Beshear’s request, Judge Rutherford has contacted the Governor’s office to offer Pike County as a partner with the Commonwealth of Kentucky for potential public-private partnerships for a Request for Information due March 3, 2008.
“Through the County Office of Energy and Technology, Pike County is prepared to be a willing and active partner on energy development projects. With a long-term comprehensive energy strategy, Pike County is well-positioned to participate in these initiatives and will work actively to be of any assistance on future funding requests,” said Judge Rutherford.
Pike County has received nearly $900,000 to complete a feasibility study to site a coal-to-liquid plant in Pike County and the American Energy Research Center, a consortium of public and private entities working together to demonstrate and commercialize energy projects.
“We are moving forward with our study for a CTL plant, as well as the AERC. We have had a great response to our efforts to develop our energy resources. By working with Governor Beshear, as well as federal officials and corporate and community leaders, we will be successful in developing our County and to create good paying jobs for our people,” said Roger Ford, Director of Energy and Technology.
# posted by Joe Kinzer @ 11:18 PM 
