First of four LG&E, KU rate adjustment public hearings to be held. What to know
Kentucky’s Public Service Commission, the body responsible for regulating the state’s utilities, is beginning a series of public hearings Sept. 8 related to rate increases proposed for the first time in five years by the commonwealth’s largest utility.
Rate adjustments proposed by Louisville Gas &Electric and Kentucky Utilities would increase monthly LG&E bills by $11 and KU bills by $18.
Those rates are based on forecasts showing the company would need to charge its customers more to pay for upgrades to infrastructure and to cover for the rising costs of services as a result of severe weather events among other economic factors like inflation.
It’s the first time since 2020 LG&E and KU have submitted such a request.
“Since then, we have been intensely focused on improving our service reliability and planning for the future. At that time (in 2021 when it agreed to not raise rates again for four years), we did not know what economic impacts like inflation would occur,” said LG&E and KU President John Crockett in written testimony submitted to the commission May 23.
“Of course, during that time, we have seen extremely high levels of inflation, which have impacted our ability to achieve our financial goals.”
KU is requesting through its rate adjustments an increase of approximately $226 million per year in its electric revenue, while LG&E is requesting an increase of nearly $105 million per year in its electric revenue and almost $60 million per year in its gas revenue.
Those projections match numbers the companies say they lack in order to meet operating expenses now and to provide a reasonable rate of return despite “aggressive” efforts to increase efficiency while reducing cost, the application said.
For LG&E residential consumers who use the monthly average of 866 kWh of electricity, their monthly electric bill may increase by just over 10%, or $11.04, according to the utility’s application.
kWh, or kilowatt-hour, is a unit of energy that measures the total amount of electricity consumed over time, equivalent to using 1,000 watts of power for one hour.
LG&E’s residential gas customers using the monthly average 52 Ccf of gas could see their bills increase by almost 15%, or $11.12.
Ccf (Centum cubic feet, or 100 cubic feet) is a unit of measurement for water or natural gas consumption on utility bills
Residential KU customers using an average 1,085 kWh per month may see an increase of approximately 14%, or $18.14, in their monthly electric bill.
The average monthly electricity bill for residential customers in Fayette County where KU is the dominant provider is about $137.24, according to FindEnergy, a consumer energy data website. Though bills per month fluctuate with seasons and other factors, a Fayette County household is likely paying about $1,645 per year for electricity.
If the rate adjustments are approved, and monthly KU electric bills increase to $155.38 per month, Fayette County residents would spend almost $1,865 per year on electricity.
PSC will conduct the following four public hearings to gather public feedback before it decides whether to approve the rate adjustments for some more than 1.3 million Kentucky customers:
- In Louisville: 5 p.m., Sept. 8 at Jefferson Community & Technical College.
- In Madisonville: 5 p.m., Oct. 13 at the Hopkins County Fiscal Court.
- In Lexington: 5 p.m., Oct. 14 at Bluegrass Community & Technical College in the Keeneland Room.
- In Middlesboro: 5 p.m., Oct. 16 at the Middlesboro Community Center.
Comments also can be submitted online by clicking here, emailed to psc.comment@ky.gov, or mailed to 211 Sower Blvd., Frankfort, Kentucky 40601.
Any feedback should include name, address and case number, 2025-00114, which is LG&E specific and 2025-00113, which is KU specific.
If approved, rate adjustments won’t go into effect until after Jan. 1, 2026, and it may take several years for the utilities to make the infrastructure upgrades it is proposing across the state, such as replacing wood poles with steel ones.
The requested change in rates is required, the companies said in the application, “to enable LG&E to continue providing safe and reliable service to its customers, and to afford LG&E a reasonable opportunity to earn a fair return on its investment property used to provide that service while attracting necessary capital at reasonable rates. LG&E’s current rates and tariffs are inadequate for those purposes.”
In a May 15 statement as the companies were notifying the commission and customers it planned to adjust rates, Crockett said, “We understand that increasing customer bills is impactful and not a decision we take lightly. Our employees, who are also our customers, work hard to operate and maintain our systems to be the best in the nation, and we have held true to our commitment to not increase rates for the last five years.
“Even now,” Crockett continued, “our request is significantly less than the rate of inflation. However, we’re at a tipping point in which the foundational portions of our system — poles, wires, substations and technology — are reaching the end of their useful lives.”
The rate adjustment application is separate from an ask from the same companies to spend almost $4 billion to increase power generation capacity.
In that application, LG&E and KU anticipate additional power from upgrading and building power plants in Jefferson, Mercer and Carroll counties would let it meet a 29% increase in demand it projects to reach by 2032.
This story was originally published September 8, 2025 at 1:35 PM.
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