Tag Archives: Kansas

What’s The Matter With Kansas? Demand Charges, That’s What

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Ah, Kansas, why did you go and have to be the exception?

The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) (which regulates its utilities) decided last week to grant the proposals made by the state’s two largest utilities – Westar Energy and Kansas City Power & Light to lower utility bills for everyone in their service areas except solar users.

For some reason, the KCC decided it would allow solar users to be penalized for generating their own electricity by hitting them with a demand charge that could cost solar users anywhere between $27 and $36 a month, according to calculations by the Wichita Eagle.

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When we originally wrote about this last month, we had hoped Kansas would continue the trend shown by so many other regulatory bodies, in finding demand charges to be too confusing for average customers to understand. And in the case of Westar, we were also hoping the KCC would reject the ridiculous zombie lie that solar users don’t pay their fair share of grid upkeep, which reared its ugly head again in the Westar argument.

This is the “cost shift” argument which, for those of you who have not followed our work on this before, plays out thusly:

As we’ve discussed ad nauseum, the solar “cost shift” doesn’t happen until at least 10% of a state’s electricity comes from solar power, something that is occurring in only five states. That leaves 45 states where the cost-shift is a flat-out lie, and in the five remaining states, the “cost shift” is fractions of a penny per kilowatt-hour.

But unfortunately, the KCC allowed the wool to be pulled over its eyes. In its ruling, it wrote (again quoting the Wichita Eagle):

“The Commission finds that, in Westar’s case, under the two-part rate design for (solar) customers currently in place, the (solar) customers are receiving a preferential rate,” the commission said in its order approving the settlement.

Ugh, for the last time, SOLAR USERS AREN’T GETTING PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. That’s a lie. It’s nonsense. And you on the KCC should have been smart enough to recognize it as such.

It’s so disappointing to see a misguided ruling such as this because it will essentially strangle Kansas’ budding solar industry before it even gets to take its first breath – and that’s a damn shame.

More:

New Westar Energy rates will benefit average customer but not solar power users

Proposed Kansas Demand Fees Could Bring Solar Installations To A Screeching Halt

Proposed Kansas Demand Fees Could Bring Solar Installations To A Screeching Halt

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Solar observers in Kansas are watching closely as two demand-charge proposals wend their way through the Kansas Corporation Commission. A decision on whether the fees will go into effect is expected on September 27.

It’s always interesting to watch lesser solar states work out their solar policies, despite the fact they often fall into some of the same traps earlier states have. Kansas appears to be no exception.

The state’s two largest utilities – Westar Energy and Kansas City Power & Light – currently have proposals before commission, which solar advocates say could bring the industry to a screeching halt, according to Midwest Energy News.

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One solar installer named Mark Horst is quoted in the article discussing one particular customer that he put together an estimate on how the demand charge would affect her bill. This is what he found:

The demand fee is high enough that it would actually offset all of the energy savings provided by smaller solar arrays, according to Horst. He analyzed the finances of one customer’s 2.32-kilowatt array, and determined that her average monthly savings of $35 would be more than negated by an average monthly demand charge of $45.

The upshot: “She would have to pay $10 a month for the luxury of having solar panels,” Horst said, adding that he would have to advise her for financial reasons to remove the panels.

As Midwest Energy News correctly points out, the demand charge is a longstanding method that utilities use to try to recover the revenues they lose when people discover what a good deal solar is for them and generate their own electricity.

What is heartening, at least for Kansas consumers, is that most utility regulators are loathe to allow demand charges because of their confusing nature. Most regulatory bodies aren’t willing to make it harder for customers to understand their bills.

That’s not to say Kansas won’t be the exception to the rule. But it should give solar installers like Hurst and solar consumers like the one he discussed some hope that the Kansas Corporation Commission won’t allow these usurious and confusing charges to make their way on to those bills. We’ll all find out together later this month.

More:

Kansas utilities’ proposed new fees could wipe out savings for some solar customers