Owensboro advances rate plan with mixed sample bill effects

Owensboro’s City Utility Commission advanced a proposed electric-rate restructuring on Nov. 5, sending a base-rate ordinance to the City Commission for consideration. The plan would raise overall base rates by 18.5% while lowering the Energy Cost Adjustment from 3.5 cents to 1.315 cents per kilowatt-hour, a reported reduction of about 62.4%.

The proposal has not been adopted, so no new rate is in effect. The Owensboro Times reported that City Commission readings were scheduled for Nov. 17 and Dec. 1, 2026, with a proposed effective date of Feb. 1, 2027.

Sample bills move in different directions i

The reported proposal would raise the residential base energy charge from 9.86 cents to 12.116 cents per kilowatt-hour. It would leave residential fixed monthly charges unchanged: $18 for single-phase service and $33 for three-phase service. OMU’s current published schedule and existing rate ordinance list those charges and the current 9.86-cent base energy rate.

For an illustrative single-phase home using 900 kilowatt-hours, OMU’s example puts the proposed monthly bill at $138.88, compared with $138.46 under September rates—a 42-cent increase. The report says that proposed bill would be $9.69 above the example’s June level. By contrast, a small-commercial customer using 1,800 kilowatt-hours would have an example bill of $257.81 under the proposal, $1.10 below the September example of $258.91.

Does the proposal mean every customer’s bill would rise? No: those examples move in opposite directions. They are illustrations, not forecasts for every account; actual effects depend on usage and service classification. The proposal would also increase business fixed customer charges and raise security-light charges by 20%. A small standard security light would go from $12.55 to $15.06 per month. Other reported changes cover service classifications and fees, including separately metered structures and temporary service.

OMU cites power costs and reserves i

The Owensboro Times reported that OMU finance director Laura Chapman told commissioners the proposal responds to rising power-supply costs and reserve needs. The newspaper attributed to an OMU presentation a fiscal-year 2028 power-cost projection of about $64 million, roughly 75% of electric-system operating expenses. That figure is a projection, not an established future cost.