Gov. Beshear, don’t leave Kentucky families in the cold this winter | Opinion

Kentucky’s families are facing a winter of uncertainty and deep stress. As temperatures fall, unemployment and prices for everything from food to health care are up.

The recent federal government shutdown disrupted essential services and raised serious questions about whether long-term funding for critical programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and others that support families will remain intact. Meanwhile, as the Philadelphia Federal Reserve recently noted, “wage increases are no longer keeping pace with price increases,” partly as employers face higher costs due to tariffs. As jobs and wages cool, lower-wage workers, in particular, feel the pinch.

So it was already hard for many Kentuckians to stretch their dollars far enough to cover essentials like food and medicine. Now higher utility bills will blow in for the winter.

Surprisingly, Kentucky is one of only eight states in the U.S. with no statewide protections against utility disconnections during extreme weather. But Gov. Andy Beshear can act now to protect vulnerable citizens with the stroke of his pen: by issuing an immediate moratorium on utility shutoffs through March 2026.

Utilities say they avoid disconnecting customers during extreme cold. But according to data that LG&E/KU filed in 2024 with the Public Service Commission, LG&E/KU did have thousands of total disconnections between January and March 2023, including shutting off households for past-due amounts as low as $75.

These clearly are not isolated cases. They reflect a pattern that leaves Kentucky families dangerously exposed at a time when a power shutoff can be a matter of life and death.

The cost of staying warm is also rising sharply. One in three Kentuckians is “energy cost burdened,” meaning they spend more than 6% of their monthly income on energy bills alone. For nearly 128,000 Kentucky households living below the federal poverty line, the average energy burden is an astonishing 32%. It’s no surprise, then, that a single high electric bill can push a family into crisis, especially at a time when utility costs are outrunning wages and many households are still recovering from the economic disruptions of recent years.

This is a preventable crisis. A utility disconnections moratorium through March 2026 would give Kentuckians some room to breathe when they need it most. It would allow families to at least keep the heat on through the winter as they struggle to balance higher costs for groceries and health care. It would support households while Congress works through its budget process. And it would give the Kentucky legislature time to consider and implement permanent statewide protections — safety that residents in 42 other states already have during extreme weather.

Around the country, governors have taken strong, decisive action to protect their residents. Kentucky should do the same. Gov. Beshear has both the authority and the responsibility to ensure that no Kentuckian loses heat in winter simply because they fell behind on a bill during this profoundly uncertain economic moment. The time to bring Kentuckians in from the cold is now.

A “Leave the Heat On” rally will be held at the Kentucky Capitol in Frankfort on Dec. 8 at 11 a.m.

Glenye Cain Oakford is a writer, editor, and multimedia content producer who has lived in Lexington since 1991.

This story was originally published December 3, 2025 at 1:30 PM.