Centre News

On May 8, Centre students and faculty visited the Mother Ann
Lee Hydroelectric Power Plant. There, they toured the hydrodam,
which supplies the equivalent of approximately nine percent of
Centre's energy.

Those who took part in the Mother's Day visit to Mother Ann Lee
were (standing, left to right) Evan Shirley ’13, Dr. Preston Miles,
Garrett Powers ’13, Dr. Mike Hamm, Nate Kratzer ’10, Ricky
Ackerman ’10, David Brown-Kinloch, owner and operator;
(kneeling, left to right) Caroline Stephens ’11, Arielle Knudsen ’10,
and Bethany Pratt ’10.

David Brown-Kimloch (left), the engineer who renovated the
abandoned dam, led the tour.

Last weekend, many students visited their mothers for the Mother’s Day holiday. A small group of Centre College students also embarked on a “Visit Your Mother” trip to the local Mother Ann Lee Hydroelectric Plant.

Why?

In April 2007, more than three-fourths of Centre students voted for the creation of a Green Fund, an initiative that requires students to pay an annual $20 surcharge on their tuition to purchase renewable energy credits from the hydroelectric station, located near Harrodsburg, Ky. (These funds help subsidize the station's production of electricity, which is much cleaner, but more expensive to generate, than that created at coal-powered plants.)

The surcharge, after being unanimously approved by the board of trustees in October 2008, was officially implemented beginning fall term 2009.

Students from the campus groups ECCO (Environmentally Conscious Centre Organization) and CORS (Centre Outdoor Recreation and Service) made the mile-long trek through the woods to the Mother Ann Lee plant to learn more about how the structure functions.

“We organized the trip to give students more exposure to what the Green Fund is in support of,” says Bethany Pratt ’10, who was instrumental in the initiation of the Green Fund several years ago. She “visited her mother” for the first time back in 2008, along with another group of students.

“The plant has had many renovations since the last time we visited, and they’re working on creating more dams, which will expand alternative energy sources in Kentucky,” Pratt says.

ECCO and CORS plan to make “Visit Your Mother” an annual event with more and more students becoming involved.

In November 2009, E.ON., the parent company of Kentucky Utilities and Louisville Gas & Electric, presented Centre and its students with the company's favorite non-residential customer award for students' efforts with the Mother Ann Lee Hydroelectric Station. This was the first presentation of the award.

This partnership is E.ON's first with a Kentucky higher education institution and the first time a college or university in Kentucky has privately funded local renewable energy sources in order to offset its carbon emissions.

For more information on the Green Fund, click here.