Kentucky Public Service Commission
Improving efficiency would lower Kentucky Power bills and demand, say negotiators
Kentucky Power, a utility serving 20 of Kentucky’s poorest counties, has asked for an increase in electricity rates for homeowners, renters and small businesses — the fourth in eight years. The increase, currently in a settlement agreement under review by the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC), could bring in $74 million more a year to […]
Kentucky Power lowers proposed rate hike after pushback. Some ratepayers say it’s still too much.
Letcher County Judge-Executive Terry Adams walked up to a microphone inside a hearing room in Frankfort Tuesday morning, one of numerous people who had given public comments over the past few weeks to the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC). The utility regulator over the upcoming days will be questioning Kentucky Power executives and other witnesses […]
How to weigh in on Kentucky Power’s proposed 18% rate increase
The Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) is hosting multiple public meetings the next few weeks to receive input on electric utility Kentucky Power’s request to raise utility bills for the utility’s average residential customer by about 18%. Kentucky Power, an investor-owned utility serving about 163,000 customers in 20 Eastern Kentucky counties, already has the highest […]
Incentives for Bitcoin mining operation run by Kentucky’s largest coal producer gets regulator’s OK
Kentucky’s utility regulator has approved more than $4 million in electricity cost discounts over several years for a Bitcoin mining operation being run by Kentucky’s largest coal producer. The Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) in its Monday order said the economic development incentives offered by Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities (LG&E and KU) […]
Kentucky’s largest utility wants to invest billions in new power plants. Here’s how to weigh in.
When Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities (LG&E and KU) filed an application in December to make significant changes to how it generates its electricity, the utility acknowledged the “unprecedented change” taking place with how the United States makes its power. “Although there is room for disagreement concerning the precise timing and mechanisms by […]
State regulator threatens Kentucky Power with fines for 2022 winter storm performance
Kentucky’s utility regulator is asking Kentucky Power why it shouldn’t face fines for failing to prepare for a power supply shortfall ahead of the December 2022 winter storm. The Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) in a June 23 order alleged Kentucky Power had violated a state law that requires utilities to “furnish adequate, efficient and […]
Kentucky Power’s proposed rate hike would spell disaster for many in Eastern Kentucky
ASHLAND — In an all too familiar announcement, “Kentucky Power has filed a comprehensive rate review with the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC).” The utility is requesting to institute changes to increase its revenue by 13.6 percent. The Notice of General Adjustment of Existing Rates shows a proposed 18.3% increase in residential service rates and […]
‘Something has to change’: Kentucky’s utility regulator faces more work with fewer staff
FRANKFORT — Kentucky’s utility regulator is responsible for managing a larger, more complex caseload despite having a diminished and less experienced staff than in the past, its chairman told lawmakers Wednesday. The Kentucky Public Service Commission regulates the rates and services of more than 1,100 utilities, ranging from massive investor-owned electric providers like Kentucky Power […]
Would her family’s financial stake in the coal industry affect Craft’s actions as governor?
As the two have vied for the GOP nomination for Kentucky governor, Kelly Craft has frequently attacked Daniel Cameron because as attorney general he supported closing a coal-fired power plant in West Virginia to avoid burdening Kentucky ratepayers with the cost of required upgrades to the more than 50-year-old Mitchell plant. What Craft doesn’t say […]
Bill aiming to preserve Kentucky’s coal-fired power plants becomes law without Beshear’s signature
A bill that would make it harder for Kentucky’s utility regulator to allow utilities to retire coal plants on the state’s electricity grid became law Friday without Gov. Andy Beshear’s signature. Senate Bill 4, primarily sponsored by Sen. Robby Mills, R-Henderson, would create a series of prerequisites on the Kentucky Public Service Commission before it […]
Some Kentuckians push their power supplier to prioritize greener energy over coal
Bill Conn was thinking of his two children when he wrote an email in December to the Kentucky Public Service Commission, the state agency that regulates more than 1,000 utilities. The Whitley County teacher counts Eastern Kentucky coal miners among his ancestors, a history that’s near and dear to his heart. As recently as 1988, […]
Price shocks could hit consumers without more oversight of grid building boom
An aging electric grid, fossil fuel power plant retirements and a massive renewable electricity buildout are all contributing to a boom in transmission and distribution wire projects by electric utilities across the country. In 2020, investor-owned electric utilities spent $25 billion on transmission, up from $23.7 billion in 2019, figures that the Edison Electric Institute, […]