Stop Kentucky Utilities rate hike

No matter how much any of us use or conserve any utility, we are all paying service charges, fees and taxes before we flip a switch, adjust the thermostat or use a phone, computer or TV.

Kentucky Utilities is now attempting to raise monthly bills in two ways: by doubling the current mandatory residential service charge from $10.75 a month to $22, beginning July 2018, and by proposing to increase our electricity rates by 6.4 percent. LG&E is requesting the same increases, and between the two, they have 919,000 residential customers; you can do the math.

The companies say the increases are needed to pay for new technology, but this double dipping at the expense of the customer is surely more about the bottom line for the shareholders of PPL Corp., parent company of KU and LG&E.

Let’s hope that the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office of Rate Intervention will continue to stay on top of this outlandish rate request since the service charge increase is apparently a done deal. And let’s make our voices heard at the Kentucky Public Service Commission meeting at 5:30 p.m. April 18 at Northside Branch of the Lexington Public Library.

This story was originally published April 11, 2017 at 6:57 PM with the headline "Stop Kentucky Utilities rate hike."