Power Plants in Kentucky

Kentucky's power sector in numbers

Bywatts maps 31 operating power plants with 21.5 GW of nameplate capacity in Kentucky. Coal leads with 77% of that capacity across 12 plants, followed by Natural Gas (18%) and Hydro (4%). The inventory also includes 8 plants (1.9 GW) that EIA-860 lists as retired and 1 partly retired with no operable units of its recorded fuel; the largest retired plant is KENNETH C COLEMAN (602 MW, retired 2020).

The largest operating plants are TRIMBLE COUNTY (2,594 MW, Coal, LOUISVILLE GAS & ELECTRIC CO), PARADISE (2,558 MW, Coal, TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY) and GHENT (2,226 MW, Coal, KENTUCKY UTILITIES CO).

Of the 30 operating plants with a recorded commissioning year, 9 came online in 2000 or later and 4 in 2010 or later; the busiest decade for new capacity was the 1970s (7.6 GW).

The largest operators by operating capacity are LOUISVILLE GAS & ELECTRIC CO (5 plants, 5.3 GW), TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY (4 plants, 5.2 GW) and KENTUCKY UTILITIES CO (4 plants, 4.1 GW).

Retail electricity sales in Kentucky reached 75.9 TWh in 2025, down 0.2% over ten years and up 2.0% year on year; residential customers took 35.9% of it. The average retail price across all sectors was 10.55 cents per kWh, up 29.5% since 2015.

The database also maps 617 named substations (4 of the 63 with a recorded voltage are rated 345 kV or above), 1 data center (operated by CyrusOne), 45 solar installers and 19 solar companies in Kentucky.

Operating capacity by fuel

Retail electricity sales

Sources: HIFLD power-plant inventory (capacity, fuel, operator), EIA-860 (commissioning year, retirements, operable capacity), EIA retail sales and revenue series through January 2026. Counts are of plants Bywatts lists, not every generator in the state.