The Pennyrile Area Development District Board of Directors was presented with a progress update regarding the input of a 53-mile-long gas pipeline in Todd County at their meeting on Monday.
Former Pennyrile Rural Electric President, Eston Glover presented the update on behalf of the Pennyrile Regional Energy Agency which he says was established with the purpose of installing a natural gas pipeline to reach the Novelis aluminum recycling plant in Guthrie.
Along with focusing on the fuel needs of Novelis, Glover says the agency is able to work with other agencies and residents in southern Kentucky to connect them to a gas pipeline.
For their project with Novelis, Glover says they are planning a 53-mile-long natural gas pipeline that will start in Lamasco in Lyon County and travel along Interstate 24 to Guthrie.
After establishing where the pipeline would flow, Glover says they have been working with property owners that will be affected by the pipeline to find where they are comfortable with the pipeline being on their property. Those who will have the pipeline on their property can receive a pipeline tap at a discounted price.
The agency is still working with property owners and Glover says they request that those who have the pipeline under the property do not build anything on top of the pipeline, but the land can still be farmed.
As they are still working on what piping to use, Glover says the project could cost up to $115 million. However, he says they would not have been able to start the project without a $30 million grant they received from the state government and thanked Gov. Andy Beshear and District 16 Rep. Jason Petrie for their support.
Glover says they are waiting to receive environmental clearance before they can move forward with construction, but they plan to have the gas pipeline completed by December 30, 2025.
The construction of the pipeline is able to be completed within nine months, but Glover says the extra time takes into account any obstructions they may come across.