Kansas gas fee dispute enters settlement negotiations: Proposed agreement could lead to higher bills for private households

An evidentiary hearing scheduled for next week in the Kansas Gas Service rate dispute has been changed to a settlement hearing. The Kansas Corporation Commission approved the change during its business session this morning. Last Friday, the parties involved in the case, KCC staff, Kansas Gas Service, the Citizens Utility Ratepayer Board and WoodRiver Energy, presented a unanimous settlement agreement to the commission.

The settlement hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, August 13, at 10:30 a.m. at the KCC office in Topeka and will be live-streamed on the KCC YouTube channel. During the hearing, commission members will hear from witnesses in the case and have an opportunity to ask questions. The commission may approve, reject, or modify the settlement. A final decision is expected to be made on or by October 25, 2024.

If the settlement is approved, residential customers with average usage (72.23 Mcfs) would receive a monthly bill of about $3.83, or $42.02 per year. The company also withdrew its proposal to implement two different rate structures based on usage levels, which would have increased rates by about $6.71 per month for customers with usage of 73 Mcf or less and $9.48 per month for customers with higher usage.

A link to the proposed comparison can be found here.