First inflation, now the cost of government regulations

If you feel like it costs more to get fewer items at the grocery lately, you are not alone.

In the past few years, the U.S. has seen record hikes in the cost of living, annual inflation rates not seen since the 1970s.

Groceries, clothes, restaurants … everywhere we turn, prices are way up because costs to produce items have gone way up.

Our electric cooperative is in the same boat. The prices we pay for essential items like wire, poles, transformers and even bucket trucks have gone way up.

We are doing everything we can to find the lowest prices, manage costs, and do more with less. As a not-for-profit cooperative, we understand electricity is vital for heating, cooling, lights, appliances and much, much more. We also understand our members depend on us to keep power bills manageable.

Meanwhile, the U.S. federal government in recent years has imposed new regulations aimed at raising the cost to build and operate reliable power plants. The U.S. EPA believes it is reasonable for a not-for-profit Kentucky cooperative to pay $10.7 billion to keep just one power plant in compliance as new rules go into effect. We won’t do that. We will find affordable solutions that ensure reliable service for you.

Clearly, the government is pushing power producers to renewables. But maintaining 24/7/365 reliability means keeping our conventional plants online, even while we add renewables. It’s costly.

We are committed to providing reliable electricity that is increasingly sustainable, and doing so at a reasonable cost for our members.