FRANKFORT, KY, March 15, 2006 – The Kentucky Public Service Commission issued an order March 14 approving Kentucky Power’s $41 million rate case settlement agreement. The agreement was reached with rate case intervenors last month and concludes a base rate case the company filed in Sept. 2005.
 
Under terms of the settlement agreement and subsequent Commission order, a residential customer using 1300 kilowatt hours of electricity per month will see a rate increase of 14.7 percent or approximately $11.00 per month.
 
Kentucky Power sought the rate increase to recover ever-increasing costs of operations and to make the necessary investments to maintain and improve the reliability of its infrastructure. It is the first base rate case the company filed in more than 20 years; Kentucky Power customers last saw a base rate increase in 1988. Customers will see the rate change effective for electricity service rendered on and after March 30, 2006.
 
Included in the order is a monthly charge of 10 cents per residential customer that will be used to fund a heating assistance program for low-income ratepayers. The program will raise approximately $174,000 annually, which will be matched by company shareholders for at least two years. The company is working with local Community Action agencies in the counties it serves to develop a plan to administer the assistance program.
 
"We are pleased the Commission has responded so quickly to our settlement agreement and are satisfied we could conclude the case on a timely basis," said Kentucky Power President and COO Tim Mosher. "The additional revenue will allow us to continue our programs to enhance reliability and better serve our customers, while maintaining competitive and fair rates for customers."
 
Kentucky Power is an operating unit of American Electric Power and provides electricity to approximately 175,000 customers in all or part of 20 Eastern Kentucky counties.
 
American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP is the nation’s largest generator of electricity, owning more than 36,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP’s utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). American Electric Power, based in Columbus, Ohio, is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2006.
 
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