{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-278.287","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 278.287","heading":"Voluntary energy cost assistance fund -- Customer contributions -- Time of","body":"and eligibility for disbursements -- Biennial reports -- Administration costs.\n(1) As used in this section:\n(a) \"Voluntary energy cost assistance fund\" means a fund that shall:\n1. Be administered by a utility or provider for the purpose of receiving\nvoluntary contributions from customers and disbursing subsidies to\ncustomers;\n2. Be administered in coordination with one (1) or more community action\nagencies that assist t he Cabinet for Health and Family Services in\nadministering federal Low -Income Home Energy Assistance Program\n(LIHEAP) funding; and\n3. Be maintained in trust and separate from any customer assistance\nprogram otherwise implemented by the utility or provider;\n(b) \"Provider\" means any person or persons, excluding an electric power system\nowned and operated by a municipality, that provide service to retail customers\nand that own, control, operate, or manage any facility used or to be used for or\nin connection with any activity described in KRS 278.010(3)(a) or (b) but are\nnot regulated by KRS Chapter 278; and\n(c) \"Fund\" means a voluntary energy cost assistance fund.\n(2) Any utility as defined in KRS 278.010(3)(a) or (b) that provides service to retail\ncustomers and that does not already administer an energy assistance program prior\nto July 12, 2006, may establish a fund.\n(3) Any provider that does not already administer an energy assistance program prior to\nJuly 12, 2006, may establish a fund.\n(4) A customer's voluntary monthly contribution amount to the fund shall be:\n(a) An amount equal to the difference of the customer's monthly bill and the\namount of the next highest whole dollar; or\n(b) A standard amount not to exceed one dollar ($1).\n(5) A customer may make a special contribution to the fund at any time in any amount.\n(6) Annual disbursements from the fund may be made in November and December of\neach year by the utility or provider upon the recommendation of a community action\nagency for the purpose of providing a utility or provider bill subsidy for residential\ncustomers who:\n(a) Use electricity or natural or manufactured gas as a principal source of home\nenergy;\n(b) Are responsible for their home heating costs either directly or indirectl y as an\nundesignated portion of the rent;\n(c) Have a total household income that is at or below the percentage of the federal\npoverty guidelines required for eligibility in the subsidy component of\nLIHEAP, as specified in the latest federally approved version of the Kentucky\nLIHEAP State Plan submitted by the Department for Community Based\nServices;\n(d) Have liquid monetary resources that do not exceed one thousand five hundred\ndollars ($1,500) if those liquid monetary resources are not used for the\nmedical and living expenses of a household member with a catastrophic\nillness;\n(e) Have liquid monetary resources that do not exceed four thousand dollars\n($4,000) if those liquid monetary resources are used for the medical and living\nexpenses of a household member with a catastrophic illness; and\n(f) Are customers of the utility or provider.\n(7) If available, additional disbursements from the fund may be made from January 1\nthrough March 15 of each year by the utility or provider upon the recommendation\nof a community action agency for the purpose of providing a utility or provider bill\nsubsidy for residential customers who:\n(a) Use electricity or natural or manufactured gas as a principal source of home\nenergy;\n(b) Are responsible for their home heating costs eit her directly or indirectly as an\nundesignated portion of the rent;\n(c) Have a total household income that is at or below the percentage of the federal\npoverty guidelines required for eligibility in the subsidy component of\nLIHEAP, as specified in the latest federally approved version of the Kentucky\nLIHEAP State Plan submitted by the Department for Community Based\nServices;\n(d) Have liquid monetary resources that do not exceed one thousand five hundred\ndollars ($1,500) if those liquid monetary resources are  not used for the\nmedical and living expenses of a household member with a catastrophic\nillness;\n(e) Have liquid monetary resources that do not exceed four thousand dollars\n($4,000) if those liquid monetary resources are used for the medical and living\nexpenses of a household member with a catastrophic illness; and\n(f) Are utility or provider customers who:\n1. Have received a disconnect notice from the utility or provider;\n2. Are within four (4) days of running out of fuel oil, propane, kerosene,\nwood, or coal; or\n3. Have received an eviction notice for nonpayment of rent, when heat is\nincluded as an undesignated portion of the rent.\n(8) If available, additional summer cooling disbursements from the fund may be made\non a one (1) time basis from May through A ugust of each year by the utility or\nprovider upon the recommendation of a community action agency for the purpose of\nproviding an air-conditioning unit to residential customers who:\n(a) Are responsible for their home heating costs either directly or indir ectly as an\nundesignated portion of the rent;\n(b) Have a total household income that is at or below the percentage of the federal\npoverty guidelines required for eligibility in the subsidy component of\nLIHEAP, as specified in the latest federally approved version of the Kentucky\nLIHEAP State Plan submitted by the Department for Community Based\nServices;\n(c) Have liquid monetary resources that do not exceed one thousand five hundred\ndollars ($1,500) if those liquid monetary resources are not used for the\nmedical and living expenses of a household member with a catastrophic\nillness;\n(d) Have liquid monetary resources that do not exceed four thousand dollars\n($4,000) if those liquid monetary resources are used for the medical and living\nexpenses of a household member with a catastrophic illness;\n(e) Are customers of the utility or provider;\n(f) Do not have access to an air conditioner; and\n(g) Have a household member who:\n1. Has a health condition or disability that requires cooling to prevent\nfurther deterioration as verified by a physician's statement;\n2. Is sixty-five (65) years of age or older; or\n3. Is under the age of six (6).\n(9) For the six (6) month period from J anuary 1 to June 30 of each year, each utility or\nprovider that administers a fund shall provide a detailed report of costs in\nadministering the fund and a detailed report of receipts to and disbursements from\nthe fund to the commission no later than July 31, and for the six (6) month period\nfrom July 1 to December 31, no later than January 31 of the following year. Any\nbalances remaining in the fund at the end of a year shall remain in the fund for use\nin succeeding years.\n(10) The commission shall require  all utilities as defined in KRS 278.010(3)(a) and (b)\nthat administer a fund and provide service to retail customers in Kentucky to\ndevelop and implement a mechanism for soliciting and receiving contributions to\nthe fund. The mechanism and format shall be  approved by the commission and may\ninclude but shall not be limited to a check -the-box format. Contributions shall be\nmade as described in subsections (4) and (5) of this section.\n(11) Any provider that administers a fund shall comply with the requirement s to\nimplement a mechanism for soliciting and receiving contributions to the fund as\nprovided in subsection (10) of this section.\n(12) Those utilities and providers that are already administering an energy assistance\nprogram prior to July 12, 2006, shall n ot be subject to subsections (9), (10), and\n(11) of this section.\n(13) All contributions to the fund shall be voluntary and shall be uniformly assessed\nmonthly, except in the case of a special contribution, which can be made in any\namount at any time, for all customers of the utility or provider. A customer shall not\nbe subject to making contributions until such time as his or her intent is submitted\nto the applicable utility in a manner prescribed by the commission. A customer who\nno longer wishes to contr ibute to the fund shall be exempted from making further\ncontributions to the fund once his or her intent is submitted to the applicable utility\nin a manner prescribed by the commission.\n(14) Contributions received by utilities or providers, together with a ny interest accruing\nthereon, shall be transferred to the fund immediately upon receipt.\n(15) A utility or provider that administers a fund may recover up to three percent (3%) of\neach contribution received for its costs in administering the fund. The comm ission\nshall allow any additional, reasonable cost a utility incurs in administering the\nreceipt and disbursement of contributions to the fund in the cost of service of the\nutility for ratemaking purposes.","path":["KRS Chapter 278"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=51163","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:53:30Z","sha256":"b702fd6777f78b6bb3700d3457ceb1173bdd6ee72f457935ff36e1a860b61d85","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-278.285","next":"us-ky/krs-278.290"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}