Your Energy Matters

It’s a special day for us at LG&E as we get ready to blow out 100 candles on our birthday cake. For the past year, we have been celebrating our centennial. As we look back on our rich history, we are also turning the page on our future and making our communities an even better place for the next generation.




Along with Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, Congressman John Yarmuth, metro council members and The Library Commission, LG&E helped break ground today on the new Southwest Regional Library. “We’ve got to be a city where people never stop learning. We do that, we create opportunities, we create jobs, we become a 21st-century city based on innovation, and libraries are right in the middle of that,” said Mayor Fischer.

Paul Thompson, LG&E and KU's Chief Operating Officer

Paul Thompson, LG&E and KU’s Chief Operating Officer, also spoke at the event. As a member of The Library Foundation, a nonprofit designed to support the Louisville Free Public Library, Thompson deeply understands the goals of the LFPL. Thompson said the groundbreaking underscores our commitment to southwest Jefferson County. “We’re your neighbors,” said Thompson. “Many of us have lived and worked here for generations. Like other residents, we’ll be strong patrons of this wonderful facility.”

The hope, Thompson said, is that a student will read about math and science and be inspired to pursue a career in those fields and perhaps even come to work as an engineer for our company.

Generations Before Us

This video profile of Carbide Industries is the first of our new “Business in Your Backyard” video series, featuring various LG&E and KU Major Accounts customers.



Click here to watch the video.


While skyscrapers, bridges, and buildings are scattered across the U.S., Kentucky natives may not be aware of a critical component manufactured in their backyards by Louisville-based Carbide Industries that contributed to their successful construction.

Carbide Industries is the country’s largest producer of calcium carbide, which is a necessary product for cutting, welding and the steel industry.

Electricity is critical to Carbide Industries, which uses 1,000 times more energy in a single day than the average LG&E or KU residential customer uses in a month.

According to John Gant, general manager of Carbide Industries, it takes about 3 megawatts of energy to make one ton of calcium carbide, and furnace temperatures must remain above 10,000 degrees during the manufacturing process.

Carbide Industries is one of 400 Major Accounts customers in the LG&E and KU service territories. These customers alone use approximately one million megawatt hours per month, or the equivalent amount of energy required to support 800,000 residential electric customers on a monthly basis.

Watch the video to learn more about Carbide Industries from General Manager John Gant.

What do line technicians, plant operators, engineers and customer service representatives actually do, and how did they prepare for their careers? Students from Lexington’s Paul Dunbar High School recently had a chance to find out from LG&E and KU employees.


LG&E and KU’s Organization Development group, which is responsible for helping employees develop and enhance their workplace skills, organized a tour of the Lexington Stone Road Distribution Operations facility and informal presentations from employees in various job areas. The students, who are participating in a career exploration program at their school, learned about various utility jobs including the skills and education required for them, a typical day at work and what employees like about these jobs.

The students received an overview of LG&E and KU safety ethic, which is a core value of the company. Students also learned about such professions as unit operator and line technician, as well as roles in electric system coordination and customer service operations.

Students took a tour of Stone Road and received hands-on instruction in safety awareness — including the importance of wearing personal protective equipment — and watched employees demonstrate common daily tasks, such as equipment operation and maintenance or customer interaction.

“These students received a broad, entertaining overview of careers in the utility industry, and they had fun learning about our company operations,” said Betsy Livesay, manager of Organization Development, who organized the session. “As they begin thinking about their future career choices, we hope their experience with LG&E and KU will prompt them to consider some of these jobs and to prepare for them through training and higher education.”

LG&E and KU and the LG&E and KU Foundation have a long history of providing critical funding and opportunities for educational endeavors throughout our service territory. The tour and informational session that the Dunbar High School students participated in is one of several ways that the company fosters educational opportunities in our community.

- Jennifer Whelan