Initial Grant Award
The Division applied in early 2022 for an Initial Grant in the amount of $25 million to plug orphan oil and gas wells in Kentucky. The $25M grant was awarded to the Division in October 2022, but it came with a 90-day mandatory contracting requirement. Under that timeline, 90% of the Initial Grant $25M Award had to be obligated (i.e. contracted out) by December 30, 2022. The full 100% amount had to be obligated within one year. The Division was able to assemble over 46 orphan well projects by county, issued Requests for Proposal for plugging through the Finance Cabinet, and successfully awarded those by competitive bids within the required federal timing. Kentucky was the first state in the nation to plug an orphan well under the IIJA Orphan Well Plugging Grant program. In the 1st Quarter Reporting by States of IIJA Progress for that same grant (Oct-Dec 2022), Kentucky had plugged more orphan wells than any other state. (After that the big states outran us, but we certainly got out of the gate very well.) Through those efforts, the Division was able to plug a total 635 orphan wells with the Initial Grant to improve Kentucky’s environment and restore impacted lands to a useful purpose.
Formula Grant Phase I Award
Under the terms of the IIJA, Kentucky was also declared eligible for a total of $78.9M in Formula Orphan Well Plugging Grants, the next class of available grants under the BIL Federal Plugging Program. Effective May 1, 2024, the Division of Oil and Gas was awarded the Phase I Formula Grant in the amount of $25 million. The Division is actively working now to assemble orphan well packages for bid solicitations in Phase I of the Formula Grant.
Email to Report Orphan Wells
OrphanWells@ky.gov is established by the Energy and Environment Cabinet as a public reporting tool for landowners and concerned citizens to report orphan wells in their area that need inspector follow-up. In many cases, reported wells may not be orphans, but site inspections by the Kentucky Division of Oil and Gas can determine the status of those reported wells.