After well over a decade, the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) has finally concluded a long-standing dispute governing rate treatment for Louisville Gas & Electric's investment in the Trimble County generating facility. In 1989, the PSC disallowed 25 percent of the 495-megawatt coal-fired plant from rate base. Under the newly approved agreement, the utility will refund current customers $22 million: $5.3 million is reserved to special contract customers, and the balance will be refunded to all other customers through a per-kilowatt-hour credit over a five-year period. The utility also agreed to apply an additional $4.5 million to fund low-income energy assistance programs over the same five-year period.
In a separate concurring opinion, Commissioner Linda K. Breathitt expressed concern that residential customer refunds will be spread out over time while certain industrial customers receive immediate payments. She also noted that the agreement reflects a recent trend in settlement agreements presented to the PSC: The utility, large industrial customers, and low-income customers benefit from ardent representation at the bargaining table while the vast majority of customers appear have a much smaller voice in the process. Re Louisville Gas and Electric Co., Case No. 10320, Dec. 8, 1995 (Ky.P.S.C.).
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