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Liberty Utilities says customers will see cheaper bills once it acquires Kentucky Power

Electricity meters
Corinne Boyer
Electricity meters

Next Monday, a formal hearing before the Kentucky Public Service Commission will be held over the acquisition of Kentucky Power by Liberty Utilities.

David Swain, president of Liberty Utilities central region said once the sale goes through, eastern Kentucky customers will see an immediate 16% reduction in their bills.

“We’re going to put $40 million in an account that will help the customers — it’s actually a fuel account — that when fuel prices spike due to high prices that 40 million dollars will be used to reduce that amount,” he said.

Liberty will also employ a vice president of customer advocacy to work with entities around the state.

“Like the attorney general’s office, the different agencies that help the customers and help with their bills, the [Public Service Commission], and we’ll be doing everything that we can to help level out customers' bills so they don’t see spikes,” he said.

Customers have long reported high power bills amounting to hundreds of dollars every month in eastern Kentucky. When asked if Liberty Utilities would place a moratorium on shutoffs or work with customers who aren’t able to pay, Swain said it’s something the company will look at.

“What we would entertain from a standpoint of advocacy with the customer, is during those periods when it's extremely hot or periods when it’s extremely cold — and other states do this where there are parameters where they don’t do shut offs during those times when customers could be affected the most,” he said. “That’s something we will be looking at and doing everything we can to help customers.”