Ky. Rev. Stat. » Chapter 278
Kentucky Revised Statutes

Ky. Rev. Stat. § 278.170 (2026)

Discrimination as to rates or service -- Free or reduced rate services

✓ current as of May 2026
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(1) No utility shall, as to rates or service, give any unreasonable preference or advantage to any person or subject any person to any unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage, or establish or maintain any unreasonable difference between localities or between classes of service for doing a like and contemporaneous service under the same or substantially the same conditions.

(2) Any utility may grant free or reduced rate service to its officers, agents, or employees, and may exchange free or reduced rate service with other utilities for the benefit of the officers, agents, and employees of both utilities. Any utility may grant free or reduced rate service to the United States, to charitable and eleemosynary institutions, and to persons engaged in charitable and eleemosynary work, and may grant free or reduced rate service for the purpose of providing relief in case of flood, epidemic, pestilence, or other calamity. The terms "officers" and "employees," as used in this subsection, include furloughed, pensioned, and superannuated officers and employees, and persons who have become disabled or infirm in the service of the utility. Notice must be given to the commission and its agreement obtained for such reduced rate service except in case of an emergency, in which case the commission shall be notified at least five (5) days after the service is rendered.

(3) Upon obtaining commission approval of a tariff setting forth terms and conditions of service the commission deems necessary, a utility as defined in KRS 278.010(3)(d) may grant free or reduced rate service for the purpose of fighting fires or training firefighters to any city, county, urban-county, charter county, fire protection district, or volunteer fire protection district. Any tariff under this section shall require the water user to maintain estimates of the amount of water used for fire protection and training, and to report this water usage to the utility on a regular basis.

(4) The commission may determine any question of fact arising under this section. Effective: July 15, 1996 History: Amended 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 141, sec. 2, effective July 15, 1996. -- Amended 1982 Ky. Acts ch. 82, sec. 21, effective July 15, 1982. -- Amended 1978 Ky. Acts ch. 379, sec. 23, effective April 1, 1979. -- Amended 1976 Ky. Acts ch. 88, sec. 11, effective March 29, 1976. -- Recodified 1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from Ky. Stat. sec. 3952-32.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1975–2024 · leading case: Pub. Serv. Comm'n v. Commonwealth, 320 S.W.3d 660 (Ky. 2010).
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Pub. Serv. Comm'n v. Commonwealth, 320 S.W.3d 660 (Ky. 2010). · cites it 24× “Finding this construction to be contrary to the *665 language of KRS 278.170 as a whole, to other provisions of KRS Chapter 278 and to longstanding administrative interpretation of those statutes, we reverse.”
Nat'l-Southwire Aluminum Co. v. Big Rivers Elec. Corp., 785 S.W.2d 503 (Ky. Ct. App. 1990). · cites it 2× “According to KRS 278.170(1), we only prohibit "unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage" or an "unreasonable difference.”
Big Rivers Elec. Corp. v. Thorpe, 921 F. Supp. 460 (W.D. Ky. 1996). “” KRS 278.170. The PSC has “original jurisdiction over complaints as to rates .”
City of Pikeville v. Pub. Serv. Comm'n of Kentucky (Ky. Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 4× “040, KRS 278.170, KRS 278.260, and KRS 278.270.”
Riverside Generating Co., L.L.C. v. Kentucky Pub. Serv. Comm'n (Ky. Ct. App. 2021). “KRS 278.170(1) proscribes unreasonable discrimination by prohibiting utilities from granting an “unreasonable preference or advantage” or maintaining an “unreasonable difference” between classes of service “for doing a like and contemporaneous service under the same or…”
Marshall Cnty. v. South Cent. Bell Tel. Co., 519 S.W.2d 616 (Ky. Ct. App. 1975). “The prohibition of KRS 278.170 is against establishing or maintaining “any unreasonable difference between localities or between classes of service for doing a like and contemporaneous service under the same or substantially the same conditions.”
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 278.170(1) — 4 cases
Pub. Serv. Comm'n v. Commonwealth, 320 S.W.3d 660 (Ky. 2010). “Finding this construction to be contrary to the *665 language of KRS 278.170 as a whole, to other provisions of KRS Chapter 278 and to longstanding administrative interpretation of those statutes, we reverse.”
Nat'l-Southwire Aluminum Co. v. Big Rivers Elec. Corp., 785 S.W.2d 503 (Ky. Ct. App. 1990). “According to KRS 278.170(1), we only prohibit "unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage" or an "unreasonable difference.”
City of Pikeville v. Pub. Serv. Comm'n of Kentucky (Ky. Ct. App. 2024). “040, KRS 278.170, KRS 278.260, and KRS 278.270.”
Riverside Generating Co., L.L.C. v. Kentucky Pub. Serv. Comm'n (Ky. Ct. App. 2021). “KRS 278.170(1) proscribes unreasonable discrimination by prohibiting utilities from granting an “unreasonable preference or advantage” or maintaining an “unreasonable difference” between classes of service “for doing a like and contemporaneous service under the same or…”
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 278.170(2) — 1 case
Pub. Serv. Comm'n v. Commonwealth, 320 S.W.3d 660 (Ky. 2010). “Finding this construction to be contrary to the *665 language of KRS 278.170 as a whole, to other provisions of KRS Chapter 278 and to longstanding administrative interpretation of those statutes, we reverse.”
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