Tagged: Kentucky Public Service Commission

Kentucky’s Public Service Commission will announce today whether or not it will create a new area code for the western part of the Commonwealth. The cell phone boom has resulted in using nearly all of the numbers available with the current 270 area code. The new area code would be designated as 364.

The meeting about the new area code for western Kentucky drew a small audience Wednesday. Only three people attended meeting at Hopkinsville Community College. Kentucky Public Service Commission spokesman Andrew Melnykovich says the meeting was held to explain the reasons behind a new area code and the options for adding a new one. One solution is an overlay, which means the 364 area code would apply to all of western Kentucky in addition to the existing 270 area code. The other option is a split.

The Kentucky Public Service Commission will hold public meetings this month looking for comment on a new environmental compliance plan by Big Rivers Electric Corporation. Big Rivers is seeking PSC authorization to spend over $283 million to comply with new federal environmental requirements. Spokesman Marty Littrel said these investment costs will trickle down to the customer in coming years. Big Rivers provides wholesale power to its owners, Jackson Purchase Energy, Kenergy, and Meade County Rural Electric corporations.

The Kentucky Public Service Commission is set to decide soon whether American Electric Power can keep burning coal at an eastern Kentucky power plant.

Kentucky Power’s Big Sandy Power Plant in Lawrence County burns coal, and the company, which is owned by American Electric Power, is asking for PSC approval to install pollution controls to comply with federal regulations and continue burning coal.

But several entities intervening in the case argue that coal isn’t the least-cost option, considering that federal carbon regulations may be in store in the next few decades.