Kentuckians are feeling the strain as residential energy bills sky-rocket and historic heat waves grip the region. Families need solutions that will lower energy burdens and monthly costs.

For that reason, Sierra Club Kentucky – alongside six other community advocacy organizations – submitted a letter to the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) asking that the Commission open an affordability docket to identify the drivers of rising energy costs and solutions to high bills. The PSC responded to the letter and confirmed that it has formed an internal working group to study affordability, but it hasn’t opened a formal docket to hear from Kentucky families.

No corner of our commonwealth has been spared from steeply rising energy bills. Kentuckians need answers and lower costs now, not more stalling. It is critical that the PSC working group open a formal affordability docket that includes extensive public outreach in all areas of the state, solicits feedback from all stakeholders, and brings together representatives from Kentucky’s utilities and all ratepayer classes.

We would like to see several issues addressed in the affordability docket. First, we are deeply concerned about Kentucky’s continued reliance on some of the country’s highest cost coal-burning plants. Within the last year, Kentucky utilities have proposed investing hundreds of millions more hard-earned Kentuckian dollars on projects that will extend the life of aging coal-fired plants once slated for retirement. Some of these plants are out-of-state and do not employ Kentucky workers or pay most Kentucky taxes.

Instead of doubling down on coal, a recent study found that the lowest-cost energy for Kentucky – capable of saving customers billions of dollars – will require a transition away from coal, better utilization of energy efficiency measures, and battery storage.

Second, we are concerned that the rapid deployment of data centers could increase costs for Kentucky’s utility customers. While Kentucky is not yet home to a single large-scale data center, a small number of proposals have generated significant local opposition. Data centers affect household energy bills before they ever reach the communities. Kentuckians deserve to know the facts, express concerns, and participate in transparent dialogue about what’s in our state’s best interest.

Governor Andy Beshear has stated publicly that any data center interested in operating in Kentucky will “have to pay for 100 percent of its own energy.” We believe that data centers should be required to pay for 100 percent of the costs that they cause on a utility’s system, including the cost of driving up energy prices in the communities in which they locate.

As the only state agency charged with determining data center electric rates and electric energy cost allocation, the PSC is uniquely placed to lead a discussion between utilities, industry stakeholders, and the public that sets out the approval processes required to connect data centers to the grid and lays out how information about potential data centers is made public. Without shared expectations around public disclosures, the inevitable result will be local frustration over the use of non-disclosure agreements, public mistrust, and, likely, extended litigation. This could all be avoided should the PSC address these issues in an affordability docket.

Lastly, we want to ensure that Kentucky utilities do not invest in expanding electric generating capacity to power hypothetical data centers that may never exist. There are far more data center projects in utilities’ economic development pipelines than will ever conceivably be built. A Sierra Club report found that just two dozen utilities had been approached with over 700 GW of potential data center development. That’s enough energy to consume every unit of electricity produced in North America in 2024.

An affordability docket should provide a helpful forum for the PSC, utilities, and the public to explore these critically important issues before ratepayers are saddled with decades of unnecessary energy costs from new and retrofitted fossil generation.

As part of any affordability docket, we hope that the Commission will do all in its power to hear from everyday Kentuckians about their experiences with rising energy costs. It’s clear, Kentuckians need relief now. The interests of Kentucky families must stay front of mind as the PSC engages in the important work of ensuring an affordable energy future for our state.

Let the PSC know you support an affordability docket that seeks solutions for these three drivers of higher energy costs, among others. Call and tell the PSC you appreciate their studying affordability and the sooner they open a formal docket the better off you’ll be. The number to call? 502-564-3940.