FRANKFORT, Ky. (June 17, 2021) – Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Big Rivers Electric Corporation (BREC), and Kentucky Industrial Utilities Customers (KIUC) today announced a settlement returning $13.3 million in bill credits to BREC’s Kentucky customers.
The settlement results from modifications to BREC’s Member Rate Stability Mechanism (MRSM) Tariff, which allows the company to return revenues to customers in the form of bill credits. The revenues are generated from off-system sales or smelter loss mitigations efforts and are passed back to the customer. The MRSM tariff ensures that Kentucky customers can receive the additional revenues in the form of bill credits, rather than experiencing frequent changes to their utility rates.
“Our Office of Rate Intervention worked closely with BREC and KIUC to reach a settlement that will return additional bill credits to customers and save Kentuckians $13.3 million,” said Attorney General Cameron. “I applaud BREC’s efforts to pursue a modified tariff that returns more money to Kentuckians and allows the company to continue rehabilitating its credit, which will provide long-term benefits and savings for utility customers.”
Last year, BREC filed an application before the Public Service Commission (PSC) seeking to modify the MRSM Tariff to pay down a portion of the company’s debt and provide additional savings to consumers by increasing the bill credit. The Attorney General’s Office of Rate Intervention (ORI) and KIUC intervened in the case on behalf of Kentucky ratepayers.
The resulting settlement increased the bill credit for Kentucky consumers from $8 million to $13.3 million. The average bill credit for residential customers will amount to $47.58 annually or $3.97 per month. The settlement also assisted BREC in regaining an investment grade credit rating, which will result in approximately $157,000 in annual interest savings. The PSC approved the settlement on June 9th.
BREC is an electric cooperative corporation headquartered in Henderson, Kentucky. The corporation provides wholesale electric power and services to three Kentucky cooperative members, Jackson Purchase Energy, Kenergy Corporation, and Meade County RECC. In total, these member cooperatives serve more than 121,000 members in the Western Kentucky Counties of Ballard, Breckenridge, Caldwell, Carlisle, Crittenden, Daviess, Graves, Grayson, Hancock, Hardin, Henderson, Hopkins, Livingston, Lyon, Marshall, McCracken, McLean, Meade, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Union, and Webster.
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