Kentucky Electric Cooperatives Address Special Task Force on Electric Restructuring

12/19/2000
Kentucky's 27 consumer-owned electric cooperatives believe that any restructuring of Kentucky's electric utility industry should treat all consumers fairly and should live up to its promises.

That's the message that Ron Sheets, president of the Kentucky Association of Electric Cooperatives, delivered to the Special Task Force on Electric Restructuring at its meeting in Frankfort on Monday, December 11, 2000.

The task force was originally established by the Kentucky General Assembly and Governor Paul Patton in 1998 and extended for an additional two years in 2000. It is charged with studying the issue of electric restructuring and making recommendations to the governor and the legislature by November 15, 2001.

In informal testimony before the task force, Sheets applauded the committee's work and noted that Kentucky's electric co-ops were among the first groups in the state to call for its establishment.

Furthermore, Sheets reminded the group of the unanimous position of Kentucky's electric co-ops on the issue - support for comprehensive study of all relevant issues related to the possible restructuring of Kentucky's electric utility industry.

Sheets offered two main reasons for the co-ops' consistent support for comprehensive study of restructuring's implications for Kentucky.

First, he said, the co-ops want to ensure that all classes of electric customers (particularly the rural residential customers that make up the bulk of the co-ops' membership base) are treated fairly in any potential restructuring of Kentucky's electric industry.

Second, he stressed that the co-ops believe that any potential restructuring of the electric industry must fulfill all the promises that may be made by its advocates. To clarify his point, Sheets noted that in several states that have implemented restructuring, residential customers were promised lower rates and a choice of many electricity suppliers. However, upon implementation of the restructuring legislation in those states, prices did not decline and choices did not materialize - especially for rural residential customers.

Sheets concluded his testimony by announcing the co-ops' formation of their own restructuring task force. This group, Sheets noted, is composed of approximately 50 electric co-op directors, CEOs, and staff members from across the state. Its charge is to study the implementation of restructuring in other states and to develop policy recommendations for any potential restructuring of Kentucky's electric industry.

Click here to see the Electric Industry Restructuring Position Statement of Kentucky's Electric Cooperatives.

Click here to read more (including committee minutes) about the Special Task Force on Electric Restructuring at the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission's Web site.

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