 Appalachian Wireless is Appalachian Advantage. Unlimited text, talk, and two gigs of data for as low as $45 a month. Or if you like, get five lines on eight gigs of data for just $145 a month. Sea store for details. Better service, bigger savings. That's today's Appalachian Wireless, an East Kentucky network company. There's no question the economy in Eastern Kentucky has taken a hit along with the coal industry. So when news that Kentucky Power was looking at raising rates as much as 15% people became angry. In Kentucky Power President Matthew Satterwhite says while he understands their frustration, he explains the request before the Kentucky Public Service Commission is based on a set formula. The Commission sets a rate that's supposed to give a company a utility company an opportunity to earn a certain return. And you want to earn that return because you want capital, you want shareholders, you want Wall Street to invest in Eastern Kentucky. And if you're not earning a return that the Commission says you should be returning, you're not going to get the investment. Many customers are still adjusting to the nearly 10% increase the Public Service Commission granted Kentucky Power in 2015. But Satterwhite says things have already changed. We haven't earned the return since the last rate case. Not a single year of what the Commission said we have an opportunity to return because customers tried to leave right away. So this case is really about making sure we cover our costs and should we continue are we going to be able to provide the capital and attract the capital to continue to invest in Eastern Kentucky. Because Kentucky Power is technically part of American Electric Power, many have questioned why AEP is an offering to help absorb the cost of the rate increase. I think the common misconception is that American Electric Power is the power provider in Eastern Kentucky. They're not. It's the Kentucky Power company. And we have to survive as Kentucky Power on our own merits. What we do, the cost that we have, we're highly regulated. All of that goes in front of the Commission in Kentucky. Our operating costs and our investment. And that's judged to make the rate for Kentucky. And that's good for Kentucky. Otherwise, the AEP Corporation that everybody else wants to talk about, we're in 13 different jurisdictions. I don't think the people of Eastern Kentucky want to pay for a problem that's happening in Oklahoma. Flipside, we can't ask the others in Ohio and Louisiana and Oklahoma to pay for issues that we're facing. The Kentucky Public Service Commission will be holding three upcoming meetings in Eastern Kentucky the first week of November to receive public comments. The first one is November 2nd in Prestonsburg. In Pikeville, I'm Shannon Deskins for EKB News.