Benham, Kentucky, a small town of 500 people in far southeastern Kentucky, is frequently featured in the news for its leadership in building a new energy. While many of those features highlight the paradox of the solar-powered Kentucky Coal Museum located in Benham (see this recent CNN video from summer 2019), there is much more to Benham’s energy story.
Benham’s residents are served by Kentucky’s smallest municipally owned utility, the Benham Power Board with its ~280 customers. Many homes in Benham were built nearly 100 years ago when the community was founded as a model coal camp. In response to studies that showed Benham customers have the highest average monthly electricity use of any utility in Kentucky, the Power Board came together with partners to alleviate some of this burden for town residents.
The Benham$aves program was established by the Benham Power Board in 2015. The program pays the upfront costs of energy upgrades for residents, such as home insulation, upgrades to heating and air conditioning units, and other energy efficiency measures, for qualifying customers who choose to participate.
Residents repay the investment over a 15-year period, using their energy savings. The program is designed to ensure that the monthly repayment is no more than 85% of the projected monthly savings, meaning that the retrofits pay for themselves over time and customers start saving money immediately, compared to their previous energy bills.
This summer, MACED staff spent time assisting with intake evaluations for the program with Scott Shoupe, a graduate of MACED’s New Energy intern program. Shoupe recently opened a new business, New Age Solutions, an energy efficiency contracting business in Harlan County.
Scott’s father, Carl Shoupe, is a disabled miner who serves on the Benham Power Board.
“We are blessed to live here in the mountains, near the highest point in Kentucky,” Carl said. “It’s my hope that this project can be a light shining from the top of Black Mountain that can be seen by people in communities everywhere across eastern Kentucky and our Commonwealth. This is a powerful example of what’s possible when people come together to help our communities survive and thrive.”
The Benham Power Board worked closely with community leaders and area organizations including MACED, Christian Outreach with Appalachian People (COAP), Harlan Community Foundation, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, and Appalshop, to develop the program. These organizations continue to support Benham$aves.
For example, in February 2019, KFTC gathered at a special meeting of the Benham Power Board to celebrate an anonymous donation of $200,000 to the program.
According to a KFTC article, Chase Gladson, a local high school student who represents the Harlan County chapter on KFTC’s steering committee, said, “One hundred percent of these resources will be used by the Benham$aves program to pay the upfront costs of energy retrofits in this community. We estimate it will be enough to fix up 20-25 homes, close to 10% of all homes in Benham. Eventually those funds will stretch even further as the investments are repaid and recycled.”
MACED is proud to support the Benham Power Board as it looks to truly serve its residents, and continue to build a new energy.
