Court Opinion

ID: 9748113
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 15:52:35.465612+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:30.155723
License: Public Domain

VENTERS, J.,
Dissenting:
I respectfully dissent. The Court of Appeals correctly determined that prior to the 2005 enactment of KRS 278.509, the PSC had no statutory authority to approve the requested rate increases other than through the general rate-making process established in KRS 278.190. By granting the increased rates so that Appellants could expedite the recovery of certain long-term capital expenditures, the PSC side-stepped its own regulations (807 KAR 5:001 § 10) and the closer public scrutiny inherent in KRS 278.190. That KRS 278.509 was specifically adopted to provide legislative cover for rate changes involved here simply highlights the fact that, without such legislation, the rate changes were not authorized. The Court of Appeals properly struck down the pre-2005 rate increases.