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KY SB8

KY SB8
AN ACT relating to the Public Service Commission.

summary

Introduced
02/18/2025
In Committee
02/20/2025
Crossed Over
Passed
Dead
03/28/2025

Introduced Session

2025 Regular Session

Bill Summary

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 278 to establish the membership of the Public Service Commission; provide for the appointment, confirmation, and replacement of commissioners; establish the qualifications of the commissioners; set the terms and term limits for commissioners; amend KRS 278.040 to provide that the commission is an independent department of state government that is administratively attached to the Energy and Environment Cabinet only for the limited functions and purposes that the commission requests; allow the commission, in its sole discretion, to identify and determine the compensation for categories of its professional employees; prohibit the commission from being reorganized under KRS Chapter 12; amend KRS 278.060 to prohibit the immediate family members of commissioners from having any official relationship to any utility; allow for a commissioner or an immediate family member to have a pension or a retirement savings account with utility as long as no contributions have been made to it for at least one year prior to the commissioner's appointment; amend KRS 278.070 to allow the officer who appointed a commissioner to remove the commissioner for cause; amend KRS 278.120 to allow the commission to have sole discretion in fixing the compensation of the executive director; amend KRS 278.702, 64.640, and 160.617 to conform; repeal KRS 278.050, relating to membership of the Public Service Commission; require the Auditor of Public Accounts to make initial appointments to the commission on or before July 1, 2025, and provide for the staggering of the appointments; allow current members of the commission to serve out the remainders of their terms provided that they meet the qualification requirements of the Act; terminate the terms of current commissioners who do not meet the qualification requirements of the Act and provide for their replacement; direct the transfer of all records, files, or documents associated with functions previously performed by the Energy and Environment Cabinet to the Public Service Commission.

AI Summary

This bill reforms the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) by establishing a new five-member commission with specific qualifications and appointment procedures. Three commissioners will be appointed by the Governor (including one licensed attorney and two with professional expertise in areas like economics, engineering, or utility regulation), and two will be appointed by the Auditor of Public Accounts (including one consumer advocate). The bill mandates that no two commissioners can have the same occupation, no more than three can be from the same political party, and commissioners are limited to three terms. Commissioners will be full-time employees subject to Senate confirmation, with a chair and vice chair elected from among the members. The bill also provides the PSC with greater administrative independence, allowing it to set its own employee compensation, determine its administrative attachments, and prevent reorganization under existing state government structures. Additionally, the bill establishes new ethics rules for commissioners, such as prohibiting commissioners or their immediate family members from having official relationships with utilities, and allows commissioners to have retirement accounts with utilities only if no contributions have been made in the year prior to appointment. The legislation aims to enhance the PSC's expertise, independence, and effectiveness in regulating utilities in Kentucky.

Committee Categories

Agriculture and Natural Resources

Sponsors (1)

Last Action

Senate Committee On Natural Resources And Energy (10:30:00 2/26/2025 Annex Room 129) (on 02/26/2025)

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