Morgan Hensley

Staff Writer

Kentucky Utilities customers recently received notices in their monthly bill statements notifying them of a proposal to raise rates. The notice has caused some confusion to customers as to exactly why and when the rate raise will become effective.

“KU filed with the Kentucky Public Service Commission a request for an adjustment of its rates and charges to become effective on or after Aug. 1,” said KU spokesperson Cliff Feltham. “The Public Service Commission has always suspended the rates’ effective date for five months while they consider the request. So, the rates won’t go into effect on Aug. 1. Instead it will be in January.”

The residential electric rate will be increased by an additional $7.41 per month, at a 8.03 percent annual increase costing less than 25 cents per day.

According to KU’s website lge-ku.com, “The decision to raise rates is never an easy one to make. This request is necessary to help us meet the ever increasing energy demands of our 1.2 million customers and to ensure we can continue to provide you with the safe, reliable energy and excellent service you deserve.”

The reason for the rate raise has been attributed to new jobs throughout the company. KU has created nearly 175 new jobs since their last rate case.

“We are creating additional jobs, adding cleaner energy and improving our service to ensure that we continue to deliver safe and reliable energy at the lowest cost possible,” said CEO and president of LG&E and KU Vic Staffieri. “We continue to be ranked as an industry leader in areas such as low rates, safety, reliability and operational excellence. Just as a vehicle needs regular maintenance, we must continue to invest in our system.”

While some of the new jobs are scattered throughout the service area, many are located at KU’s new customer care center in Morganfield.

“Approximately 50 employees were hired in Morganfield,” said Cliff Feltham, Statewide Media Relations Manager at Kentucky Utilities. “The utilities also have created a number of jobs to help meet tighter federal cyber security standards as well as more stringent transmission reliability requirements.”

To help offset some of the cost, customers are encouraged to enroll into KU’s energy efficiency programs. These programs are designed to help the customers save not only energy but money as well. A list of programs can be found on KU’s company website at leg-ku.com/ee.

According to Feltham, “Monthly rates will not increase until Jan. 9, 2013.”

Reach Morgan Hensley at 606-573-4510 or mhensley@heartlandpublications.com