LG&E, KU to file settlement agreement to return tax savings to customers
Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities Company (KU) announced Monday that they would file a settlement agreement with the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) requesting approval to return approximately $180 million in tax savings to their customers.
If the PSC approves the settlement, KU customers will receive approximately $91 million in savings, which comes out to a 5.3 percent bill reduction for a residential customer using an average of 1,179 kilowatt-hours (Kwh) per month.
LG&E customers will receive an estimated $86 million in savings, an approximately 5.6 percent bill reduction for a residential electric customer using an average of 957 Kwh per month An LG&E residential gas customer using an average of 55 centum cubic feet (Ccf) per month would see an approximately three percent bill reduction.
The tax savings are a result of the recent Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
“We had been supportive of the Tax Act all along because of the savings for our residential and business customers, so we are pleased that the commission acted quickly to enable us to deliver these savings so expeditiously,” Kent Blake, chief financial officer at LG&E and KU, said. “The other parties to this case — the Kentucky Attorney General and the Kentucky Industrial Utility Customers — truly had the customer in mind and a willingness to work together to reach a mutually acceptable solution.”
If the commission approves the settlement, customers would receive the savings through a reduction on the Environmental Surcharge line item on their bill in March and a new line item credit on the bill based on energy consumption beginning in April.
“This settlement is important for Kentucky’s industrial customers and the economic advancement of our state,” Mike Kurtz, attorney for the Kentucky Industrial Utility Customers, said. “We appreciate the initiative in the plan that LG&E and KU outlined, the willingness of the parties to negotiate, and the commission’s expediency that has enabled us to be in a place where we could be able to put these savings back into the Kentucky economy in a timely manner.”
