pivot from the affordable housing issue to how to make it easier to keep the lights on in a home.

A Pikeville Republican wants to give ratepayers, especially in eastern Kentucky, plagued with sky high energy bills when they need to use it the most.

Phillip Wheeler advanced his Senate bill 172 from committee today.

He says the measure will give the PSC Public Service Commission tools to give relief to ratepayers suffering from spiked surcharges during high demand times.

His plan would stabilize those rates by spreading them out over several months.

>> I will cleanse it a little bit for the testimony here, but no darn way in a 1400 square foot house, sit on 67 with two people living in it.

In the evening she just received a bill for $712 for a single month.

Now, members of the committee, you know, for working class people, that's just unsustainable.

And, you know, I know it's been cold this last month.

We've all experienced that sliding around on on campus here for the last week.

And usage has been pretty high.

But for particularly my region that used to have some of the lowest bills in the Commonwealth, really, that bill is a portrait of a bad energy policy that we have seen since around 2009, that with a couple of breaks, continues to plague ratepayers in eastern Kentucky, not only with high electric bills, but also a cost in jobs.

>> Has a Republican, Brandon Smith, said his constituents to have also contacted him about the spikes in their light bills that often exceeds their mortgage or rent.

>> But no other place in the state nowhere gets hit with bills like we do, and it hits the least among us.

It hits the area that has some of the greatest struggles in this country.

Owsley County is one.

It's considered to be the poorest county in the United States of America.

There's something inherently wrong about what's happening here.

This is a very good committee, and we've got great staff, we've got smart members.

Some of the most senior members in the General Assembly are here.

We can we can address this.

We can do better than what we're putting up with here.

>> The fuel surcharge stability measure cleared the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee that Senator Brandon Smith chairs without opposition this morning, and is scheduled