Credit The Municipal
Community groups are banding together to push back against increasingly frequent rate hikes proposed by Kentucky utility companies.
Each year, the Kentucky Public Service Commission receives hundreds of applications to change rates and services.
Josh Bills, commercial energy specialist for the Mountain Association, said most of the cases go unchallenged.
He pointed out last fall, Kentucky Power asked for a 25% rate increase, its third in five years, saying the change was needed to help pay for new meters. They are also setting aside particular costs and passing those directly to customers as surcharges, Bills observed. So, it s getting to be more and more complicated for a customer to look at their bill and understand what their rates are and how much they re being charged.
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LEXINGTON, Ky. – Just as the case in Texas, where some customers saw their electric bills soar to nearly $10,000 after the recent winter storm, Kentucky’s natural gas market is not regulated.
What You Need To Know
Kentucky Public Service Commission must approve rate increases
Natural gas industry deregulated in 2000
Federal guidelines also apply in Kentucky
Natural gas is second to coal in source of electricity in the Bluegrass State
The price hike in Texas during the storm that left more than 4 million people without power and heat occurred after a dwindling supply and increased demand and use of natural gas sent prices skyrocketing in a place that rarely experiences such weather. Kentucky is no stranger to cold weather and power outages, and even with the way the natural gas industry operates in the Bluegrass State, there are regulations in place to prevent what’s happening in Texas from taking place in the commonwealth.
Protection for Kentucky Utility Customers spectrumnews1.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from spectrumnews1.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Credit Courtesy Bryce Baumann
A new bill in the Kentucky legislature could ban large-scale solar projects on farmland in the state, out of fears that the growing solar industry could be a detriment to the preservation of productive farmland. But a leading solar advocate in the state believes the bill is an overreaction and could significantly hamper the dawning solar industry.
Republican State Sen. Steve West said the bill filed Monday is his way to address a long-term problem of increasing development destroying prime farmland for future generations, with large solar installations adding to that pressure.
“What was once an income-producing property for the people of that county, is now possibly, you could say maybe an eyesore to the neighbor,” West said. He is also concerned that solar projects could degrade the farmland where projects are placed over time.