State Representation
State Senator:
Lindsey Tichenor (R-SD-06)
About: Tichenor has served in the Kentucky State Senate since 2023, representing Trimble, Oldham, and areas of Jefferson County. Her career experience includes working as a real estate agent, the executive regional vice president for Arbonne International, and an international missionary with Water Step/Edge Outreach. She has served as a precinct and education chair in the Oldham County GOP and has been a standing member of the Oldham County Republican Women’s Club. She resides in Smithfield. There are not obvious indications of Tichenor’s approach to clean energy or siting, but in a Ballotpedia Survey, she indicated the Natural Resources & Energy and Economic Development & Tourism committees were of interest to her.
Committees: Families and Children; Education; and Health Services
State Representative:
Felicia Rabourn (R-HD-47)
About: Rabourn has served in the Kentucky State House since 2021, representing Trimble, Owen, Henry, and Carroll counties. Rabourn's career experience includes working as a branch office administrator with Edward Jones, and is active in the Henry County Republican Party. She resides in Pendleton. Rabourn has voiced concerns about the state moving to more solar and natural gas electricity generation, particularly related to system reliability. Her position seems to be informed by an imperative to protect coal power generation.
Committees: Agriculture; Families and Children; Education; and Health Services
Federal Representation
House Representative:
Thomas Massie (R-KY-04)
About: Massie has served in the House of Representatives since 2013. He is a “Club for Growth,” conservative Republican with a degree in electrical engineering and mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Before joining Congress, Massie was Judge-Executive of Lewis County, Kentucky, from 2011 to 2012. He also ran a start-up company based in Massachusetts. Massie has publicly rejected the scientific consensus on climate change, supports defunding the Environmental Protection Agency and is against placing new environmental regulations on coal power plants. Still, Massie has made comments in favor of renewables and other technologies like batteries, at least behind the meter.
Committees: Oversight and Government Reform; Science, Space and Technology; and Transportation and Infrastructure.
Senators:
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
About: McConnell has served in the U.S. Senate since 1985, and is the Minority Leader of the Republican Party. He’s Kentucky’s senior Senator. Before joining Congress, McConnell was Judge-Executive of Jefferson County, Kentucky, from 1977 to 1984. McConnell is unlikely to engage in a local siting and permitting issue—he is typically understood to be a pragmatist and engaging in a local issue is unlikely to serve his political goals. While McConnell publicly supports coal and other fossil assets, he does tend to support an all-of-the-above approach, like recently applauding Department of Energy grants to lithium-ion battery production in Kentucky.
Committees: Agriculture; Appropriations; Rules and Administration – as Minority Leader, he will mostly defer to committee ranking members.
Rand Paul (R-KY)
About: Paul has served in the U.S. Senate since 2010. He is a conservative Republican who rode the Tea Party wave in 2010 and regularly offers contrarian and extreme positions on the role of government and federal spending. Before joining Congress, Paul owned an ophthalmology practice and founded the Southern Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic. Paul resides in Bowling Green. Paul has publicly rejected the scientific consensus on climate change. He has spoken favorably about wind, solar, and geothermal if the free market adopts the technologies without coercion. He is opposed to “subsidies” for energy but has said he would support tax breaks for low carbon energy, though he has not enthusiastically supported vehicles for those credits in the past.
Committees: Foreign Relations; Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; and Small Business and Entrepreneurship
