News Releases

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — As temperatures continue to rise across the Commonwealth, so can customers' energy use. Although Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company's power system continues to successfully meet customers' increased energy demand, the companies encourage customers to take simple energy efficiency steps to help lower energy consumption during a heat wave.

While record-breaking energy demand isn't forecasted this week, LG&E and KU remind customers that taking steps to reduce energy use — particularly during the hottest parts of the day — can help the utilities better manage peak load on its electric system.

"We always request that customers think about using energy wisely, but this becomes even more important during high energy use periods," said Chris Whelan, Vice President of Communications for LG&E and KU. "Our employees work hard to safely and reliably meet customers' energy needs around the clock, and we ask customers to partner with us in managing overall energy use during the continued heat wave."

As always, it is important for customers on critical life support to maintain a back-up source of energy at all times. Industrial customers should also take high temperatures into account when planning their production schedule.

Customers can help better manage energy demand by taking the following actions:

• Set air conditioners to the highest comfortable setting during the day: 78-80 degrees works for most people. In addition to helping LG&E and KU manage load, raising your air conditioner setting by one degree can save you 4-7 percent on the cooling portion of your energy bill.
   
• Turn off all unnecessary lights.
   
• Turn off all unnecessary appliances. If you must run your dishwashers, dryers and washing machines, do so during the evening hours (after 7 p.m.) when energy consumption is lower.
   
• Use ceiling fans to circulate the cool air. Fans do their jobs by cooling you — not the room, so turn them off when you leave the room. Window fans, ceiling fans or whole-house fans use much less power and are an alternative to air conditioners.
   
• Cook outdoors on your grill; use a microwave oven or crockpot or prepare cold meals.
   

The all-time LG&E and KU system peak energy use record occurred on Aug. 4, 2010, at 3 p.m., when customers demanded more than 7,175 megawatts of electricity. (One megawatt can power up to 720 households using an average of 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity each for one month).

Visit lge-ku.com/savingenergy for additional tips and information concerning energy efficiency programs.



Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company, part of the PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) family of companies, are regulated utilities that serve a total of 1.2 million customers and have consistently ranked among the best companies for customer service in the United States. LG&E serves 321,000 natural gas and 397,000 electric customers in Louisville and 16 surrounding counties. Kentucky Utilities serves 546,000 customers in 77 Kentucky counties and five counties in Virginia. More information is available at www.lge-ku.com and www.pplweb.com.