Public Service Commission Joins Twitter

The Kentucky Public Service Commission has begun communicating with customers, 140 characters at a time.The PSC has joined Twitter, and will use the service to send short messages about utility hearings and power outages. The first message was sent out Thursday, and as of Friday afternoon, the commission had about 40 followers. Spokesperson Andrew Melnykovych says the PSC may branch out beyond Twitter if the account is successful."For us, it's our first venture into the world of social network communications so we'll see how this goes and if it helps us in terms of keeping the public informed, then we might look at some other ways of expanding on things like this," he says.Melnykovych says the commission is prepared to receive a number of complaints about utilities and electricity rates through Twitter. When complaints are received, he says the sender will be connected with a phone number or e-mail address of someone who can help. The commission's username is KYPSC.