Updated September 18, 2025

Photo courtesy of Pkruger via Dreamstime

It’s been a long, hot summer in Kentucky. This should come as no surprise since meteorologists predicted a hotter-than-average season for much of the U.S, but in recent years weather in Kentucky has been anything but predictable. 

As weather fluctuates and temperatures rise, so does the cost of utilities for families. 

Monthly utility costs in Kentucky have increased by 33% since 2017 and more than one in four U.S households struggle to afford the cost of basic utilities. When utility costs exceed 6% of a household’s income, it can make it harder for families to keep up with their bills and make disconnections more likely. 

For households struggling to pay their utility bills, the consequences can be severe especially during extreme weather. Loss of utility service can be dangerous and even life threatening especially for young children, the elderly, and those needing access to medical equipment. Without proper heating and cooling, children are at a higher risk of heat-related illness and death. 

Kentucky can follow the lead of other states such as Arizona, Texas, and Indiana to establish temperature-related disconnection standards. These common-sense policies prevent households from losing essential utility services during dangerous weather conditions and unsafe temperatures. There has been growing momentum to adopt similar protections in Kentucky. 

Beyond warmer temperatures, Kentucky has experienced a noticeable increase in extreme weather events. Since 2020, the state has over 18 state of emergency declarations due to severe weather, underscoring a concerning trend: natural disasters are becoming more frequent and destructive in Kentucky. 

Already in 2025, Kentuckians have faced historic flooding, devastating tornadoes, and significant winter storms. 

In response, the Kentucky General Assembly launched the Disaster Prevention and Resiliency Task Force to help the state better prepare for these challenges. We commend this important step and urge our leaders to go further to protect kids and families during extreme weather events by enacting common sense utility disconnection standards. 

As we look to the 2026 legislative session, we hope that our elected officials will take action to establish these extra protections for Kentuckians. While we can’t control the weather, we can take steps to reduce risk for our kids and families. 

Testimony presented to the Interim Joint Committee on Natural Resources and Energy on September 18, 2025 from Wesley Bryant of Letcher County: 

As a professional in this region, I see the brutal cost of poverty every single day. Families here are proud and resilient. They aren’t out here asking for handouts, they aren’t asking for debt forgiveness, to be honest most of them ask for nothing. But they are also struggling with job loss, illness, addiction, and the legacy of a changing economy. When an electric bill doubles overnight, families are left with impossible choices: pay for food or pay for power? Buy medicine or keep the lights on?

In the middle of these impossible decisions, disconnection notices arrive like a death sentence.

Electricity in Eastern Kentucky isn’t a luxury. It’s a lifeline. It runs the oxygen machines that keep our neighbors breathing. It powers the heaters that keep newborns warm and the fans that prevent heatstroke in the elderly. Without it, the most basic safety and dignity disappear.

I’ve had to call emergency shelters in the dead of winter for mothers and infants who were left in the cold with no power and nowhere to go. I’ve seen children do homework by flashlight while their parents scramble to find help. I’ve seen too many people fall through the cracks because help came too late.

Legislation that protects Kentuckians from utility shut offs during extreme weather isn’t about politics. It’s about people. It’s about drawing a line and saying: no one should freeze to death in their home because they couldn’t pay a bill. No child should suffer heat exhaustion because their family is poor.

We need laws in Kentucky that prohibit electric disconnections during periods of dangerous heat and cold. Period. These protections would give families time to seek help, make a payment plan, or connect with local agencies like mine. They would save lives.

I urge our lawmakers: listen to the voices of Eastern Kentucky. Hear the fear in a mother’s voice when she tells her child to sleep in their coat. Hear the pain in an elderly man’s voice when he says he’s trying to survive the cold “just one more night.”

No one in our community should suffer or die because they can’t afford to keep the power on. Protecting them is not just policy, it is moral responsibility.