KCP&L Seeks Extreme Increases in Customer Charge, Electric Rates

Customers May Voice Opposition at Upcoming Hearings

KCP&L customers face a whopping 177 percent rate increase in their monthly customer charge if the electric utility gets its way before the Missouri Public Service Commission.  In the rate case, which starts with public hearings on Tuesday, April 21, the utility wants to increase the charge to $25 per month from $9 per month.  The company is asking also for a 15.8 percent increase in the usage rate.

Raising the usage rate for electricity is hard enough on customers.  But increasing the fixed monthly customer charge is also poor public policy:

• It disproportionately shifts costs to low users, including poor people and seniors who already struggle to pay their utility bills.
• It discourages conservation by putting higher costs on fixed charges and not on usage.
• It gives customers less control over their energy spending.

Customers have the opportunity to tell the commission how these higher charges would affect the budgets of their family and/or their business.  They may speak at the following public hearings:

Tuesday, April 21, at NOON — Martin Community Center, 1985 South Odell Avenue, Marshall, Missouri 65340

Tuesday, April 21, at 6 p.m. — Lincoln College Prepatory Academy, 2111 Woodland Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri 64108

Wednesday, April 22, at 6 p.m. — Cohen Conference Center, Kansas City Public Library, Plaza Branch, 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64112

Thursday, April 23, at 6 p.m. — Gladstone Community Center, 6901 North Holmes Street, Gladstone, Missouri 64118

Monday, April 28 at 6 p.m. — Belton High School, 801 West North Avenue, Belton, Missouri 64012 

Each hearing will begin with an informal question and answer session. If you are unable to attend a live public hearing and wish to make written comments or secure additional information, you may contact:

The Public Service Commission, P.O. Box 360, Jefferson City, Missouri 65102, telephone: (800) 392-4211, email: pscinfo@psc.mo.gov;

The Office of the Public Counsel, P.O. Box 2230, Jefferson City, Missouri 65102, telephone: (866) 922-2959, email: opcservice@ded.mo.gov; or

Comments may also be registered in the case using the Public Service Commission’s electronic filing and information system (“EFIS”) CLICK HERE and enter “ER-2014-0370” in the “Case/Tracking No.” field.

These local public hearings will be held in facilities that meet the accessibility requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Any person who needs additional accommodations to participate in these hearings should call the Public Service Commission’s hotline at 1-800-392-4211 (voice) or Relay Missouri at 711 before the hearings.

Background:

On October 30, 2014, Kansas City Power & Light Company filed an electric rate case with the Missouri Public Service Commission seeking to increase annual electric operating revenues by approximately $120 million (15.8 percent).

For the average KCP&L residential customer using 867 kilowatt hours of electricity, the proposed increase would be approximately $14 per month.  This would be in addition to the $25 monthly charge.

KCP&L has also asked the commission to establish a Fuel Adjustment Clause (FAC), which would allow KCP&L to recover from, or return to, customers increases or decreases in the cost of fuel, power purchased and transmission costs.  The FAC amount would appear as a line item on the bill based on the customer’s monthly energy usage. The FAC factor would change every six months, upon review and approval of the commission, after costs have been incurred.