The calendar — and Friday’s weather conditions — indicate we are in the middle of summer. However, the Kansas Corporation Commission has issued its first order addressing energy costs related to the brutal cold air we experienced this past winter.
Back in February, the KCC says regulated utilities need to do everything they can to provide power and gas to their customers despite sharply increasing prices. At that time, utilities are also told to defer “extraordinary” costs and propose plans to recoup those charges over time and thus limit the financial impact on customers.
The first plan was approved Thursday for American Energies Gas Service, which serves customers in central Kansas. Agreement for a plan offered by the city of Eskridge is pending before the KCC, while plans from Evergy and Black Hills Energy are under evaluation by KCC staff. Atmos and Kansas Gas Service have not filed plans at this time.
Temperatures went under -15 in Kansas and approached zero as far south as Texas, literally freezing up natural gas operations at a time when energy demand set record levels. The Southwest Power Pool, which directs energy use across over a dozen states, was forced to issue rolling energy blackouts to limit energy consumption.
