Kansans in for another Sizeable Rate Increase from KCPL (Updated)

by Allen Williams



I received a card several days ago from KCPL notifying customers of another pending rate increase (Docket No 18-KCPE- -480-RTS) before the Kansas Corporate Commission (KCC). What is proposed for those using 1.366 kilowatt-hours in summer months or 833 Kilowatt-hours in winter will see a $7.29 per month increase excluding property tax rebasing and $9.19 per month including property tax rebasing.  It’s approximately a 4.5 percent increase while inflation is only 2.9% that will go into effect Dec 2018. The KCPL 'justification' lists the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as a reason for a decrease in KCPL's revenue requirement."  The rate proposal sounds like an opportunity for the utility to cash in on the Trump tax cut and recover lost revenue from not being able to hire illegal aliens. 

Ratepayers should keep in mind that KCPL is part of not only Westar but Great Plains Energy also.  Retirees and low income people will be hard pressed to pay the higher rates which should work well for cities like Overland Park who have the desire for upward development.

What was promised from the first KCPL merger?

Fox4KC reports:  “They moved out right at the time KCP&L was changing its billing, aimed at improving the amount customers on budget billing paid per month.  So the Dehnckes got hit with a higher monthly amount plus the yearly adjustment for what their past payments hadn't covered. The result was a whopping $900 bill. "I never had an electricity bill that high. I thought that was a misunderstanding," Dehncke said.”

KCPL already gets additional rate surcharges from ECA Energy cost Adjustment) for FUEL expenses between Billing Cycles, EER (Energy Efficiency Rider you Pay for inefficiencies KCPLdoesn't), PTS (property tax surcharge),TDC (time of day power usage between months). And lest we forget, local government also profits from KCPL rate increases with Overland Park Franchise fee, Overland Park Sales Tax (1.125%) and Johnson County Sales tax (1.475%)

KCPL has forced acceptance of their Smart meters which feature two way communications that would allow them to adjust their cost factors like ECA, EER at will.  According to the Daily Telegraph Smart energy meters are giving readings up to six times too high, a study finds.  You won’t get any credit from the utility, 5000 Utility Customers Class Action Lawsuit Claiming Overbilled 30% to 582%, you will have to sue.

According to the Topeka Capitol Journal: “Officials at Westar Energy and KCP&L say the two companies' merger will provide 15 years of rate stability, and they reject the idea that lawmakers are confused by the complexities of utility regulations.”

That promise didn’t take long to break, just nine years later they’re looking for another major increase. Don't think you can cut electric usage and save money, it just spurs further KCPL rate requests.

The Topeka Capitol Journal further notes; “[Kansas Industrial Consumers Group, which represents large-scale energy users are] ..some of the biggest users of electricity in this state. And their rates, overall, are about 40 percent less than what you and I pay and other businesses pay as consumers. And those dollars, that rate decrease for them, comes directly out of our pockets. Somebody pays for the cost of the system."

Please, utilities aren’t benefiting this industrial conglomerate out of their own pockets. The industrial group has negotiated a better deal based on the large quantities of power consumed.  Lawsuit threats also help to swing a better deal which means the residential consumer is going to wind up paying.

What was promised in the second KCPL merger?

The goal of any energy conglomerate is to control supply as a regulated monopoly and to generate profits as stated in the MERGER TO FORM LEADING ENERGY COMPANY, January 2018 Investor Update.  Great Plains is part of the Sustainable Energy program which includes the UN’s sustainable development program.  The sustainability includes expensive wind power turbine purchase and use at KCPL’s Spearville location as a condition of not being sued by the Sierra club. By the way, KCPL has to pay the people who add power to the grid with their wind turbines which means consumers have to reimburse KCPL.

“the expected financial and operational benefits of the merger to the companies and their shareholders (including cost savings, operational efficiencies and the impact of the anticipated merger on earnings per share..”

Projected net savings from the investor update for the Great Plains Energy conglomerate were stated as 27.8 million in 2018, 110.3 million in 2019 and 143.5 million in 20120.

But these saving were never intended to benefit consumers, they were promises made to the utility investors.  So consumers will have to make good on those promises of investor returns as a condition of being a KCPL customer.  It boils down to the ratepayer being on the hook for company ROI with the full blessings of the utility oversight board.

The 3 member KCC board is made up of political appointments by the Kansas Governor.  It’s a cozy opportunity for various consultants to make their way on to the commission as in the case of Michael C. Moffet, a Lawrence Kansas communications consultant appointed by then Governor Kathleen Sebelius. Consultants are not tantamount to citizen ratepayer oversight of a regulated monopoly and what do communications consultants know about utility management?

The commission makeup is therefore less inclined to regard the complaints of ordinary citizens as in “the Kansas Corporation Commission denied a request to offer public comment [regarding injection wells in Douglas County at that hearing from a Mission Hills woman who has argued that the permitting process being used does not comply with federal rules under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

No public comment is necessary even if federal laws are violated. You can ‘trust’ the respective companies to provide all the ‘necessary’ evidence.

Comments on the proposed KCPL rate hike will be accepted through Oct 17, 2018 up to 5:00pm

Correspondence may be addressed to KCC Commission, Office of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, 1500 SW Arrowhead Road, Topeka, KS  66604-4027 or call at 1-800-662-0027 or the commissions website at www.kcc.ks.gov

There is a petition for an independent audit to verify KCPL numbers claimed for the rate increase.  For those of you who have had enough as I have please sign the online petition at online petition.










Criminal Conspiracy and Agenda 21

By Roger Fredinburg (News with Views)


Lets put the monsters behind bars


The Anti-Human environmental movement is inundated with un-American Ideals and they are a far more dangerous threat to our safety and well being than any of the other radical terror groups on earth.

The plotting and planning, the hidden agendas and the penetration into our government and media at every level, is easily the most successful infiltration of communitarian and communist agents inside the US media and our government ever.

Their ultimate goal? Total annihilation of the US and Global population to 15% of current levels, and I can prove that from their own training documents. Even Adolph Hitler wasn't that committed.

They do it through programs like Agenda 21, a UN sanctioned global initiative designed to place infil-TRAITORS [spelling intentional] inside key US Government agencies at every level, local to national, for the sole purpose of stealing the most valuable asset any American has, our individual freedom and liberty.

The champions of this Globalist criminal conspiracy use those same infil-TRAITORS to bind together as a collateral political force to coerce and intimidate any detractors, and to physically and financially support candidates to elective offices to do their bidding. These criminal conspirators are helping to ruin America and destroy the nation by separating the people from their source of power; the US Constitution, one stupid rule at a time.

The dumbed down brainwashed masses in America today, mostly have a low work ethic and see no fault in robbing their fellow Americans through senseless regulations, taxes and moronic policies. These leaches on society are happy to comply with these anti-human, anti-American infil-TRAITORS for a hand full of food stamps, a rent voucher and a medical marijuana card. 

The solution is obvious to me. It is to gather the last few remaining patriots together in a do or die effort to pool financial resources and to demand criminal charges. We must find a way to fund civil lawsuits against these rotten people and use media to push for criminal charges. These folks are empowered by their useless government or media positions to quietly bring about the collapse of this nation. Like a Trojan horse, they are the enemies within and they are succeeding.

The most important thing to remember in my view is this fact; EVERY one of these folks in the bureaucracy, appointed, elected or hired took an oath of office that requires them to "defend" the US Constitution. Can they really claim that they are doing that?  We can easily prove that they meet in secret to plot and conspire about how best to rob us of our money, life force, inalienable rights and our future. And a criminal conspiracy to over-throw the United States of America by fiat, as best as I can tell, under the rules of the Patriot act is an act of terrorism.

One of the primary material losses we have suffered as individuals, and as a group, is that of the American dream. There is no way to put a dollar value on that. We can prove that it's been damaged beyond repair by these treacherous un-American people who pushed extreme land use planning laws, and forced anti-traditional family values regulations, robbing families of their sovereignty. These over-paid charlatans have even put animal rights over human rights and indebted the next 100 generations of un-born Americans. That is involuntary servitude where I live. This nonsense has developed into the most egregious Human Rights assault in American history. We need a new civil rights movement now, and I am asking you to be part of it.

Criminal conspiracy is defined as an agreement between two or more people to commit a crime or to perpetrate an illegal act. Conspiracy crimes that are federal can include conspiracy to engage in criminal activity such as conspiracy to violate federal laws. [and I think Oaths of Office] Conspiracy charges in state court are very similar, but there are many more crimes that will give rise to state conspiracy charges. While intent is key in any federal conspiracy case, only "general intent" to violate the law is necessary; proof of the defendants' specific intent to violate the law is not needed, only an agreement to engage in an illegal act. The end may be legal, but the planned means are illegal. For example, two persons making a plan to "take" another person's property (illegal) to donate to another undeserving person (legal) would be guilty of conspiracy.

U.S.C. Title 18, Chapter 19 prohibits conspiracies to defraud the United States, conspiracies to impede or injure an officer, and conspiracies to commit violent crimes. However, conspiracy is prohibited in several other federal statutes. It is important to note that an actual crime is not necessary to prosecute a conspiracy case - only the stated intent to break the law.  [So, I contend that a conspiracy to break your oath as a group might qualify] This means that even if the ultimate crime was not committed, the conspirators can be prosecuted under federal law. 

However, most states have laws that prevent conspiracy charges to be pressed if no actions were taken to actually carry out the conspiracy. This prevents people from effectively being prosecuted for having thoughts of breaking the law. While this caveat does prevent some conspiracy cases from going to court, it does not reduce the severity of a criminal conspiracy claim. In many cases, conspiracy to commit a crime such as murder is regarded as a crime as severe as murder itself.