Bianca Sanchez, bianca.sanchez@sierraclub.org
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Today, Sierra Club released its sixth Dirty Truth Report. This year, three Kentucky utilities – Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities (LG&E and KU), East Kentucky Power Coop (EKPC), and Duke Energy Kentucky – all earned “F” grades for failing to retire coal plants and onboard cost-saving clean energy.
Despite commitments to affordability and economic growth, LG&E and KU and EKPC each earned a 0 out of 100 points. Duke Energy Kentucky also earned an “F,” scoring a measly 6 out of 100. Kentucky Power, servicing just 162,000 of the Commonwealth’s utility customers, earned a 28 out of 100.
See the Full Report on the Dirty Truth Website.
The report grades utilities across the country based on how much coal they are retiring, how much gas they are planning to build, and how much renewable energy they are adding. Collectively, the 50 parent companies studied in the 2026 Dirty Truth report scored just 7 points out of 100, earning an F, and the lowest score ever in the history of the report.
Of the four Kentucky utilities, LG&E and KU is the only one with plans to retire any coal by 2030. Instead, to the combined 14,603 MW of existing coal and gas power, LG&E and KU, EKPC, Duke Kentucky, and Kentucky Power plan to add 3,389 MW of new gas by 2035.
LG&E and KU is responsible for more than half of the added gas generation. In October 2025, the Kentucky Public Service Commission approved the utility’s plan to construct two new gas units, Brown 12 and Mill Creek 6, to address unmaterialized demand from data centers. The proposal, plus additional plans to purchase equipment for the Ghent coal plant, will cost Kentucky families and small businesses $3 billion.
Renewable energy remains the cheapest way to generate electricity, while coal and fossil fuels remain expensive and extremely harmful to public health. Despite this, the Dirty Truth Report shows that Kentucky’s utilities are doubling down on dangerous, expensive fossil fuels. This means higher bills for families, more dangerous pollution, and less reliable energy.
“Our Kentucky utilities have time and time again proven themselves unreliable advocates for the interests of their everyday customers, Kentucky’s working families and small businesses,” said Elisa Owen, Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Organizer in Kentucky. “Instead, LG&E and KU, EKPC, Duke Kentucky, and Kentucky Power have shown themselves loyal to the interests of billion dollar fossil fuel corporations, potential data center developers, and Big Tech. It’s time to realign priorities and advance cheaper, faster clean energy for Kentucky. Coal is raising our bills and hurting people’s health, enough is enough.”
“The Dirty Truth report has once again revealed utilities’ overwhelming failure to plan a phase-out of their expensive and dirty fossil fuel infrastructure, and transition to clean energy,” said Sierra Club Chief Program Officer Holly Bender. “Every year that utilities drag their feet on the clean energy transition is another year where families pay record bills for expensive fossil fuels, another year of extreme weather events, and another year of air and water pollution threatening our health. We cannot afford to wait any longer to bring our grid into the 21st century. As artificial intelligence data centers drive demand for energy, utility companies are rushing to expensive and dangerous fossil fuels, leading to soaring electricity prices and worsening air pollution. The time is now for these companies to transition to affordable, reliable, clean energy to build a healthier and more sustainable energy future. The Sierra Club will continue to push utilities to deploy more renewable energy and work to lower costs and emissions.”
View the full report on the Dirty Truth Report Website or here.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.