David Smart, CEO of West Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation, continues to sound the alarm about the U.S. energy grid not being able to meet increasing demands, potentially leading to rolling blackouts in the near future.
Utilizing Kentucky Living’s “Gambling with the Grid” presentation (available to all Kentucky electric co-ops), Smart is on a speaking tour to area civic organizations.
The Murray Ledger & Times profiled Smart’s recent speech at a Murray-Calloway County Chamber of Commerce event. He explained that growing industries like electric vehicles and artificial intelligence will drastically increase electricity needs, while current renewable sources remain insufficient. Smart emphasized the critical role of natural gas and coal in maintaining a reliable energy supply, despite pressure from environmental policies to reduce their use. He pointed out that renewable sources like solar provide less than 5% of the nation’s total energy supply, making them an unrealistic solution for meeting future demands.
