Rep. Adkins celebrates national energy award with Armstrong and other KSBA officials
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Representatives from the Kentucky School Boards Association (KSBA) visited House Majority Floor Leader Rocky Adkins’ office in Frankfort this week to thank him for his leadership in sponsoring legislation that lead to the creation of a statewide, award-winning program that has saved school districts more than $48 million in energy costs since 2010.
During the 2008 session of the Kentucky General Assembly, Leader Adkins sponsored House Bill 2, a comprehensive measure to spur new initiatives in renewable energy, conservation and energy efficiency. Following the passage of the legislation, the KSBA created the School Energy Managers Project (SEMP) that provides partial funding and support for school districts to employ energy managers to implement energy management plans that focus on the efficient and cost-saving use of energy. Since that time, the number of Energy Star certified schools in Kentucky has increased from 12 in 2008 to 277 in 2015.
“The creation of SEMP has saved school districts more than $48 million in energy costs and reduced electricity usage across the state by more than 339 million kilowatt hours since 2010,” said KSBA Executive Director Mike Armstrong. “All of those cost savings go back into the classroom, and we can thank Rocky Adkins for his leadership in creating the SEMP program which began as a direct result of the passage of HB 2 in 2008. His efforts proved essential in helping move the Commonwealth forward through this important effort to conserve energy and significantly reduce costs.”
On April 20th in Washington D.C., the KSBA-SEMP Program received its second ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy for its commitment to intelligent energy choices for new and existing public schools. KSBA was one of 128 businesses and organizations in 33 states that were honored for their commitment to saving energy and protecting the environment through superior energy efficiency achievements. In 2014 alone, Energy Star partners prevented more than 300 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions and reduced utility bills for Americans by $34 billion.
Leader Adkins represents the state’s 99th legislative district in Elliott, Lewis and Rowan counties.
