LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – LG&E and KU plan to invest in systems upgrades to better serve their roughly 1.2 million customers.

“What we don’t want to happen is that we interrupt service because we have not invested in our system,” said Chris Whelan with LG&E and KU.

Mother Nature has been fierce in the Commonwealth. In 2025 alone, there have been ice storms, extreme cold, more than 30 reported tornadoes, and historic flooding.

“We’ve done a really good job of investing in our system to reduce outages on a normal, not-so-severe storm. It’s really these major storms,” said Whelan. “So, we’re trying to ensure we have the system that can withstand that.”

Whelan said some of their equipment dates back to the 1920s.

“We’ve got some poles that are wooden poles that need to be replaced with steel. We also have some substations that are nearly 100 years old.”

Coupled with system enhancements, Whelan said they plan to invest in other areas like new meter technology and customer service.

“We haven’t been in to ask for an increase in five years.”

All of these upgrades, Whelan said, will cost about $226 million in the coming years. Increasing customer bills is not a decision she said they take lightly.

“We rank among the best utilities in the nation for ensuring we keep our costs low for our customers. We’re 29% lower than most utilities across the U.S.”

If approved by the Kentucky Public Service Commission, KU residential customers using about 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month would see an increase of about $18 a month.

“In the long run we’re not having to then bring in extra crews to restore service. We’re not interrupting service. Your lights are going to stay on, your fridge is going to stay full,” said Whelan.

Any adjustments wouldn’t take effect until after January 1, 2026.

Whelan said there are all kinds of options for customers to manage their energy use. If customers have difficulty paying their bills she says call them for payment plans.

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