The Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) is holding a public meeting Thursday in Florence as it considers Duke Energy's request to raise rates an average of $15 a month.
The 5:30 p.m. public meeting in the auditorium of Boone County High School is a chance for people to ask questions and voice their concerns before a formal evidentiary hearing March 6 in Frankfort.
If approved, the increase would be Duke Energy's first rate hike in eleven years. The company says it needs an additional $48.6 million for critical investments including:
- New smart meters
- To recoup costs from Hurricane Ike in 2008
- Conversion of wet to dry ash at the East Bend Station
- Solar panels in Walton and Crittenden
- Purchase the East Bend Station from Dayton Power and Light
"We look at it as these investments are helping provide affordable, reliable and increasingly cleaner energy to customers, and those are the main drivers for the proposed increase," says Duke spokeswoman Sally Thelen.
Duke filed the rate hike request in September, 2017. The PSC has until July 13, 2018 to make a decision. If it doesn't act by April 14 Duke can start charging the higher rate.
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