Here’s an easy win if Beshear, legislature want to help Kentuckians | Opinion
When the Kentucky General Assembly convenes next month, they will have the usual assortment of thorny problems to work on: affordable housing, school funding, income tax reductions and so on.
But there’s one very quick, simple, nonpartisan law they could pass that would immediately help people in need. They could make Kentucky the 43rd state to forbid power companies from cutting off electricity and gas during the coldest months of the year.
That’s right, Kentucky is one of just eight states without a moratorium from cutting people off when they can’t pay their bill. Legislation to remedy this situation has been crushed for the past several years, no doubt due to the lobbying might of state utilities.
And as that process winds its way through the halls of the Capitol, Gov. Andy Beshear could issue an executive order for a temporary moratorium on shutoffs for this winter, which has already been full of cold and snow.
The PPL Corporation, the parent company of KU and Louisville Gas & Electric, was among the companies with the most service shutoffs in 2022, according to a report from utility watchdog groups. Together, those companies serve about 1.3 million customers across Kentucky.
Daniel Lowry, spokesman for KU, says his company already suspends disconnections for non-payment in extreme temperatures, hot or cold. Customers must have a partial payment plan in place with the company.
“We already have measures in place, so it would seem unnecessary to have legislation,” he said.
Rep. Lisa Willner, D-Louisville, who has filed cutoff protection legislation for several years, said if the utility companies “follow these guidelines, then they shouldn’t have any problems with other customers having the same protections.”
Last year, she sponsored House Bill 326, which laid out rules on a cutoff moratorium. The bill did not get out of committee.
“However, I’ve had direct conversations with Kentucky customers who have experienced cutoffs in extreme weather,” she said. “If they have these protections in place, it would be more fair and transparent to have them enacted into law.”
In addition, there are at least 50 gas and electric utilities in Kentucky, including rural electric cooperatives and municipal systems, all of which have different rules for cutoffs.
The cutoff prohibition is a common sense solution, coming at a time of rising utility costs and Trump administration threats to cut federal funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which served 119,000 Kentuckians in 2023. According to the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance, LIHEAP assistance prevented 158,439 cutoffs in Kentucky in 2024.
Energy costs are going up, and a 2016 report from Kentuckians for the Commonwealth found that in poor and rural counties, particularly in Eastern Kentucky, residents were paying anywhere from 8% to 13% of their income on electricity.
Advocates to make the cutoff prohibition a reality rallied Monday in Frankfort. Among them was Chris Woolery, energy projects coordinator for the Mountain Association.
“We need language (on utility cutoffs) that applies to everyone, language that’s clear and that everyone can understand, so people know their rights,” he said.
Willner called the proposal “low-hanging fruit” for the General Assembly.
“It’s absolutely a no-brainer,” she said. “It’s nonpartisan, it’s an affordability issue, but also a health and safety issue.”
In other words, it’s an obvious, common sense solution that could actually help Kentuckians. It’s not a culture war — it’s something that could help the many folks who feel they can’t get ahead in this economy.
A statement from the governor’s office did not say if Beshear would issue an executive opinion on cutoffs, which he blamed on a lack of action by the General Assembly.
“Gov. Beshear knows that many families across our commonwealth and country are struggling with the costs of groceries, utilities and other needs, and he invites our Kentucky families to tune in to his State of the Commonwealth on Jan. 7 where he will outline his plans to help,” the statement said.
Affordability is the key to the argument, said Jason Bailey, director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.
“Kentuckians are facing major affordability challenges and the cost of electricity is a key one,” Bailey said. “Ending disconnections during winter is an obvious and compassionate first step to making the cost of living more manageable.”
Trump is now calling affordability a “con job,” but even the most diehard MAGA conservatives in Kentucky know it’s a real problem that affects hundreds of thousands of constituents. They could pass one small bill to make their lives a little easier.
