As the holiday season began.

As we approach one year since, tens of thousands of Kentucky homes lost power and two people died during winter storm.

ELLIOTT That was events that began last Christmas Eve were on the minds of Kentucky lawmakers who heard from a state energy policy adviser last week.

Lawmakers question if renewables or coal could best support Kentucky's grid.

Can you guarantee that we can meet that demand that our families are not going to be put in the black, in the cold in the winter?

The summer?

You can make it.

You can sweat it out.

But in the cold of the winter, are you can I go back to my constituents and guarantee you we're not going to have a blackout when I have people telling me that is coming?

I can guarantee you that we have the generating technology to ensure that the reliability of the grid is maintained.

Whether that is false or renewable depends on the characteristics you would like to achieve in the grid.

As a policymaker, I think it's important to think about the characteristics you want to maintain rather than the particular type of fuel choice.

Which will be tough if you tear down your infrastructure.

That is true.

So what are you recommending to us that we don't tear it down, that we keep that as a reliable source in the future?

I'm not recommending any retirement decisions that goes between the utility and the public Service Commission.

What I'm most concerned about is the pace of technology change and what characteristics we would like to maintain and have here in the state.

I think we have a whole suite of technology options across all fuels that can help us meet that.

Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky utilities initially blamed a frozen natural gas pipeline for the Christmas power outages.

They also said coal backfired and that the units couldn't keep up as the temperature dropped.

Protecting Kentucky's electric grid was one reason lawmakers gave for passing Senate Bill four, which became law earlier this year.

It requires utilities to get state approval before shutting down coal units.

Just this month, the Kentucky Public Service Commission approved LG, E and K use plan to retire two coal generation units, while also declining the company's request to shutter two more.