MCCRACKEN COUNTY, Ky. — Greater Paducah Economic Development announced on Friday that construction for a solar facility in Kevil will start in 2027 and be operational in 2028.
The layout for the solar facility in Kevil, Ky. It sits in between New Liberty Church and Bethel Church Road.
The long-awaited project, dubbed “McCracken Solar” by AES Corporation, has been in the works for over five years.
“I first started getting phone calls, probably back around 2018 or 2019,” said Gregory Cannon, the planning and zoning administrator for McCracken County. “It was general inquiries and then it just slowly kept building and building.”
Gregory Cannon is the planning and zoning administrator for McCracken County. He awaits AES’ final layout for review with construction planned for 2027.
It started as a proposal from Community Energy, which was later bought out by current solar site owners AES.
AES chose the site in McCracken County primarily for the proximity to key transmission lines.
“We’re right in the heart of the midcontinent independent systems operator network,” said Bruce Wilcox, CEO of GPED. “This is an optimal location to get power into the community and also outside the service area.”
Wilcox said many people have complained about power bills being high. He believes this project will change that as the supply will close the gap to the demand.
Bruce Wilcox is the CEO of Greater Paducah Economic Development. He said this solar project has been in discussion for over five years.
“From 2013 to 2023 there has been a 30% decline in the number of megawatts that have been produced within the state of Kentucky,” Wilcox said. “By producing 60 additional megawatts and getting that into the grid, it’s going to help stabilize the grid and provide more power for everyone.”
Both Wilcox and Cannon said they haven’t heard much opposition to the solar project. However, AES is taking local residents into consideration during the construction and execution of the site.
“The panels have to be 150 feet off of any property line,” Cannon said. “There is an additional buffer. If you’ve got a permitted residential structure, they have to be 500 feet away from any residential structure.”
The solar project will create enough renewable energy to power approximately 10,000 homes.
There are also screening requirements to make sure residents don’t have to see the solar farm from their residence.
“They’re required a double row of evergreen trees that are planted 15 feet on center,” Cannon said. “So you will have a wall of evergreens that will help kind of hide the panels that way somebody’s looking at trees, rather than just a sea of solar panels.”
No official dates have been set for construction or operations. AES still needs to finalize its layout and submit it to Cannon for review.