Kentucky’s electricity system is planned in pieces. Each utility plans for its own customers and its own service territory. Regulators review those plans one case at a time. Until recently, Kentucky lacked a coordinated and statewide approach to evaluating its long-term energy plan needs and planning for the demands of the next 10 to 20 years and beyond.
The Kentucky Energy Planning and Inventory Commission (EPIC) exists to answer that question. EPIC is an independent state agency dedicated to providing Kentucky’s leaders with a reliable statewide picture of the Commonwealth’s energy needs and a clear understanding of the options available to meet them.
Statutory Authority
EPIC is established by KRS 164.2807, most recently amended by 2026 Senate Bill 100. The statute directs that the Commission
“shall exercise its authority to conduct energy planning, assess energy supply adequacy, and review proposed electric generating facility requirements without interference or influence from any Kentucky executive branch agency.”
KRS 164.2807(3)(a)
Our Mission
EPIC equips Kentucky’s decision makers with reliable information and a long-term statewide perspective to help the Commonwealth maintain reliable and affordable electricity, protected existing customers, and support continued economic growth.
When establishing EPIC, the General Assembly made the Commonwealth’s underlying policy clear: “to maintain adequate capacity of available, reliable, dispatchable, and resilient electric generation to provide for the existing and reasonably projected future energy consumption needs of all wholesale, retail, and other consumers of electricity in the Commonwealth.” EPIC’s role is to assess whether Kentucky is on track to meet that standard, and what it would take to stay there.
Why a Statewide Perspective Matters
Kentucky is served by investor-owned utilities, generation and transmission cooperatives and the distribution cooperatives they supply, municipal systems, and a federal power provider. Some of these utilities belong to regional transmission organizations that operate across multiple states, while others operate independently. Each utility plans for the customers it serves, but those plans reflect different geographic areas, timelines, and assumptions.
That approach was more effective when demand was relatively flat and change occurred gradually. Today, Kentucky faces a more complex energy landscape. A single large new customer in one service territory can shift fuel demand, transmission flows, and costs well beyond the utility providing service. Decisions made by regional grid operators outside Kentucky can influence electricity costs and reliability within the Commonwealth. Historically, Kentucky has approached these broader decisions one utility at a time, rather than through a unified statewide perspective.
The General Assembly recognized this challenge when establishing EPIC, finding that existing state and federal energy policies “do not adequately address the concerns of the General Assembly or citizens of the Commonwealth” and that a Kentucky energy policy is required.
EPIC examines electricity demand, generation, fuel supply, transmission, cost, reliability, and economic development together rather than as separate subjects. That statewide view helps identify emerging challenges before they become critical, whether from rapid load growth, data center development, plant retirements, fuel constraints, or transmission that has not kept pace with need. It also gives Kentucky something it has not had: a single set of facts that utilities, regulators, legislators, members of Congress, industry, and local officials can all work from, even when their perspectives differ.