Scheduled for June 7 in Lexington
LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 24, 2016) — The Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) will hold a public meeting on June 7 at Bluegrass Community and Technical College in Lexington to receive public comments on a rate increase requested by Kentucky-American Water Co. (KAWC). An informational session will be held at 5:30 p.m., followed by the public comment period at 6:30 p.m.
Kentucky-American Water is seeking PSC authorization to increase annual revenue by about $13.45 million per year, or about 15.2 percent, bringing total annual revenue to about $95 million. The company estimates that the monthly bill for a typical residential customer (using 4,130 gallons per month) would increase by $6, or 17 percent, from the current $34.38 per month to $40.38 per month.
KAWC says that the current rate request is driven mostly by the need to recover the cost of ongoing system improvements and of major construction projects completed since the last rate adjustment in 2013, notably a new filtration system at its Richmond Road facility.
In addition to the base rate increase, KAWC is again asking PSC for permission to begin adjusting rates annually to cover the cost of infrastructure repairs and replacement. The annual adjustments, which would be separate line items on customer bills, would be subject to PSC review and approval, but through a process less extensive than that in a rate case.
In its application, Kentucky-American Water says the adjustment mechanism would lead to less frequent and smaller base rate adjustments. PSC in 2013 rejected the annual adjustments, saying they would not accelerate the pace at which KAWC is replacing aging water lines
Kentucky-American Water serves more than 126,000 customers in 10 counties in central Kentucky. All but about 4,000 are in Lexington and surrounding communities.
The KAWC application and related documents are available on the PSC website, psc.ky.gov. The case numbers is 2015-00418.
A narrated slideshow explaining the PSC ratemaking process is available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch9vTS5NzJ8.
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