Solar in Eastern Kentucky, measured against the ridgelines and the rules

Solar in Eastern Kentucky starts with the horizon

Solar in eastern Kentucky gets judged too often by statewide averages. In a hollow, a ridge to the south or west can take hours of winter sun off the day, and quick online estimates usually assume an open horizon. Before trusting any payback figure, find out whether the installer measured shade at your site or modeled a flat field.

That’s the kind of question we raise for clients from Ashland to Middlesboro. We’re independent and fee-only. We don’t sell or install equipment, and we take nothing from installers, lenders, or developers.

Kentucky Power and the co-ops

Kentucky Power, an AEP company, serves all or part of 20 counties, including Boyd, Floyd, Perry, and Pike. Its Tariff NMS II, created by a 2021 PSC order, credits exported energy for new net metering customers at a PSC-set rate below the retail price. Systems that were net metering before that order keep their earlier terms at the same address for 25 years under state law.

Much of the region is co-op country. Big Sandy RECC, Cumberland Valley Electric, Jackson Energy, Licking Valley RECC, and Grayson RECC are all EKPC member co-ops, each under its own tariff. Territories cross county lines in ways that surprise people: Breathitt County alone is split among Kentucky Power, Big Sandy RECC, Jackson Energy, and Licking Valley RECC. Ask which provider serves the specific meter before comparing anyone’s numbers.

Mine benches, title, and lease offers

Flat, cleared ground is scarce in the mountains, so a reclaimed surface-mine bench can catch a solar developer’s eye. If someone offers to lease yours, the questions differ from a Bluegrass hayfield. Surface and mineral rights may be owned separately. Reclamation obligations may still apply. Access roads, slopes, and the distance to a substation all affect what a project can afford to pay.

Our Land Lease Offer Review compares the commercial and financial terms with other offers and lists questions about title, minerals, and reclamation for your attorney. We don’t interpret deeds or leases, and we never recommend signing.

Outages, batteries, and what backup is worth

After long outages, many families ask whether a battery makes sense. Separate two questions. Bill savings from storage are often modest under current tariffs. Keeping a well pump, refrigerator, oxygen concentrator, or space heater running is a different kind of value, and only you can price it. Battery & Storage Economics shows both side by side, and our article on whether batteries pay off in Kentucky covers the basics.

Working with us from the mountains

Most eastern Kentucky clients never need to drive to Lexington. The fit call happens by phone, documents arrive by secure upload, and the walkthrough is recorded so the whole family can watch it. If an older system has gone quiet since the installer stopped answering, a System Health Check starts by restoring data access.