For Immediate Release
April 4, 2000
Contact: Gwenda Bond or Rusty Cheuvront (502)564-2611

Governor Patton Signs Coal-Related Bills Into Law in Hazard, Madisonville

Governor Paul Patton signed two bills, House Bills 805 and 806, related to coal-fired electric generation plants into law today in Hazard and Madisonville.

Governor Patton said, “As a former coal operator, I certainly appreciate the significance of putting Kentucky’s coal to work in our state, rather than exporting it, as we’ve so often done with other resources. These bills provide incentives for coal-fired generation plants to locate near a cheap fuel source, which creates jobs and decreases coal transportation costs, and also to make good use of Kentucky’s own coal.”

The governor signed HB 806 in Hazard in Perry County at an announcement by Kentucky Mountain Power that they will construct a coal-fired power plant near Hazard that will use clean-burning technology to generate low-cost electricity from abundant coal waste in Eastern Kentucky. HB 806 opens up Kentucky Rural Economic Development Act (KREDA) incentives to coal-fired generation plants that locate in coal-producing counties.

Governor Patton then traveled to Madisonville in Hopkins County, the center of Western Kentucky’s coal industry, and signed HB 805, which allows coal-fired electric generation plants to take a tax credit equal to $2 dollars per ton of Kentucky coal.

Both bills were sponsored by Representative Jim Gooch.

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