Pike County officials say a new energy research center is the works.

Pike County officials are calling the new center the American Energy Research Center. They say it will usher in a new era of coal research.

"The center is going to be a facility that focuses on all aspects of energy development," said Energy Director Roger Ford.

Ford says the research center will work with the University of Kentucky and possibly others to help lay the groundwork for a coal-liquid plant in the region.

"Take those research dollars to the next step which is to develop pilot scale plants and processes to prove the technologies that they are doing in the laboratory," Ford said.

Officials say they are in discussions with the Mattel Energy Institute from Ohio to run the facility.

Ford says officials have identified four possible sites to put the research center including next to the county's regional airport.

Officials say the focus of the center will be to research better energy alternatives, but also be a place to train for the future.

"The training aspect of this facility and if we bring in the coal to liquid, they will be training those people bio mass," said Pike County Judge Executive Wayne T. Rutherford.

The judge-executive says he hopes the more people they can train, the more outside businesses will be encouraged to relocate to the mountains.

"It takes us beyond just sustaining ourselves in terms of workforce and looks to provide a well rounded, more focused energy workforce development program," Ford said.

"You know we don't want to import anything in. We want to do it here and that is the purpose of your research center," Rutherford said.

Officials say June 30th is when they will release more details about the project as they wrap up a year long coal to liquid study.

Officials say they hope to start construction on the new research center soon.