ASHLAND, Ky. (WMDJ) — In a social media post Friday afternoon, Kentucky Power says that its seventh annual Power Up the Pantry food drive was its most successful yet, providing the equivalent of 378,000 meals to food banks serving eastern Kentucky.

The program, launched in 2019, collects donations from Kentucky Power employees and customers, along with businesses and organizations throughout the company’s service area.

Kentucky Power says its Foundation also awarded $25,000 to area food banks this year. Since 2019, the Foundation has provided $214,000. The company says those grants are funded by shareholder dollars and not customer rates.

In the same post, Kentucky Power also addressed concerns raised this week about electricity costs. The company said years of declining electric demand have left fewer customers and fewer kilowatt-hours over which to spread the cost of operating its system.

Kentucky Power says attracting new businesses and electric demand to eastern Kentucky remains part of its effort to spread those costs more broadly.