Working on bourbon distillery account with LG&E. Kentucky allows manufacturing exemption on electricity under KRS 139.480, but LG&E wants detailed breakdown of production vs. office/administrative usage. Form 51A102 filed but they're asking for engineering study. Seems excessive - anyone else run into this?
KY manufacturing exemption - LG&E wants percentage breakdown of usage
Same pushback from LG&E last year. They've gotten more strict since 2022. I ended up doing load analysis showing 78% production use. Took 3 months but got exemption approved. Saved client $31K annually.
Louisville area here too. LG&E definitely wants more documentation now. Distilleries should qualify easily though - mashing, fermentation, distillation all count as manufacturing under Kentucky regs.
Charlotte perspective but similar issue with Duke Energy. Seems like utilities everywhere are being more careful about manufacturing exemptions. Document everything - production schedules, equipment specs, power usage logs.
North Dakota requires 75% production use minimum. Every state's different but the trend is definitely toward more documentation requirements. Worth the effort though - these exemptions can be huge savings.
Manufacturing exemptions remain one of the highest-value findings in commercial auditing. Document production usage carefully and be prepared for utility pushback. The regulatory trend is toward stricter verification, but legitimate manufacturing operations should prevail with proper documentation.