In 2013, Farmers Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation (RECC) helped secure a $1 million, zero-interest, 10-year Rural Economic Development Loan through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development program for the City of Glasgow. The financing helped build a methane collection system at the Glasgow Regional Landfill and laid the foundation for a landfill-gas-to-electricity project. The plant was completed in 2016 and reached its full generating capacity in 2020, turning a waste-management challenge into a renewable-energy resource for the local community.
The story begins with a problem familiar to communities operating landfills: organic waste naturally decomposes without oxygen and produces methane. Landfill gas typically contains methane along with carbon dioxide and smaller quantities of other compounds. Because methane is a potent greenhouse gas, managing it is an important environmental concern. Landfills may use collection systems to capture the gas, while some facilities flare it to reduce methane emissions. Glasgow pursued another option—collecting the methane and using it as fuel to generate electricity. The USDA describes the project as a partnership involving Farmers RECC, the City of Glasgow and East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC), demonstrating how local institutions can collaborate on practical clean-energy projects.
