 With the increasing cost of electricity in eastern Kentucky, many are left wondering how they can afford to keep the lights on. The goal of the energy program is simply just to save small businesses, nonprofits, local governments, money on their utility bills, whether that's through renewable energy, through energy efficiency, through utility bill analysis, anything we can do to help folks reduce their utility bills. We want to help folks do it. And that's gotten a lot harder the last couple of months as folks, and particularly in Kentucky Power Service Territory, have seen their bills just really skyrocket. And one of the big causes of that is the fuel adjustment charge. The fuel adjustment rider gives Kentucky Power the ability to charge the customers more when fuel costs increase or credit them when they decrease. Kentucky Power gave a statement that February bills should reflect a lower fuel adjustment as fuel costs are declining. And because Kentucky Power is an investor-owned utility and a regulated monopoly, their investors are guaranteed a rate of return on the amount of money they invest, which means they're guaranteed to make a profit. And I think it's between 9 and 10 percent. So that means Kentucky Power doesn't have to absorb the additional fuel charge. They pass it on to the customers. At Pikeville Medical Center, we believe that together we can make a difference in the fight against cancer. We are proud to have patients who have experienced successful outcomes over many years. As always, we believe in the power of faith. Pikeville Medical Center, where cancer can be defeated. While the price per kilowatt can only be adjusted with a thorough rate case, House Bill 341 is trying to change that. House Bill 341 really strips away a lot of protections that rate payers have against rising utility bill costs. So the Public Service Commission has to review any time the utility wants to make a significant adjustment to their rates. They have to file it with the Public Service Commission. The Public Service Commission does a whole rate case. They allow folks to intervene. The Mountain Association has intervened in the the last Kentucky Power rate case. They talk to expert witnesses. They can really ask a lot of really hard questions and scrutinize all of the justifications and reasons that the utility says are giving for why they need to raise their rates. House Bill 341 would give utility companies the ability to do annual streamlined rate cases, which would reduce the amount of time interveners have from 30 days to 15, drop the requirement of public announcements, place restrictions on what data is made public, and add additional riders. So if you're a Kentucky Power customer and you look at your bill, you probably notice there's like a whole bunch of extra charges on the bill. The decommissioning rider, the capacity charge, the purchase power adjustment, these are charges that most other utilities customers don't pay. And these are riders that I mentioned before that Kentucky Power is an investor in utility. They're a lot they're guaranteed a rate of return. So when they have these extra costs, they can pass them on to the customer in the form of riders. For more information on House Bill 341, go to legislator.ky.gov and to voice your concerns, contact your local representatives and legislators. For mountaintop news, I'm Brianna Robinson.