Concerned residents speak out on proposed Evergy rate increase

By Cameron Montemayor

Emotions ran high at City Hall on Monday as concerned residents voiced their opposition to a proposed Evergy utility rate increase eyed for 2025. 

Evergy is requesting an increase to base rates for Evergy Missouri West customers by about 13.42%, which equates to a roughly $17 a month increase, or $204 annually. Evergy filed the request with the Missouri Public Service Commission on Feb. 2, 2024, to implement the rate increase, which if approved, would take effect beginning Jan. 1, 2025. 

Area residents and elected officials gathered for a public hearing at the City Council Chamber on Monday evening to give their thoughts on Evergy’s request. The hearing began with a question-and-answer session conducted by PSC staff, followed by testimony from the public. 

All seven who testified Monday were in strong opposition to the increase, including Missouri state Rep. Dean VanSchoiack and six area residents.  

At the hearing, local resident Diana Latham said a cap needs to be in place to prevent increases, especially at a time when so many residents living by themselves are already struggling to make ends meet. 

“I’m tired of being scared to turn on the light. Being scared to cook. It’s ridiculous,” she said. “Let’s just put it on the people.”

Many residents cited the recent burden of higher costs associated with Evergy’s time-based rate plans implemented in 2023 as already making things extremely difficult. Many testified that the removal of Evergy’s discount program for all-electric customers has put considerable pressure on those who were utilizing it.

Proposed rate increase concerns are magnified for financially vulnerable residents on fixed incomes.  

St. Joseph resident David Hopper Jr. said he saw his Evergy electric bill jump by more than $300 in recent months, making newly proposed increases of nearly 14% even more daunting. His social security payments don’t come close to being able to make up the difference. 

Forced to work two jobs and with an electric bill just under $300, local resident Kelry Smith said she’s had to make drastic changes to accommodate electric bill costs, often having to forego use of her stove and other appliances or pushing them to the weekend. 

“I am 100% against a rate hike,” Smith said. 

Testimony given Monday will be used as part of the case against Evergy’s request on behalf of staff with the PSC, the Office of Public Counsel, Midwest Energy Consumers group and several other parties. PSC staff and the other parties stand opposed to the rate hike request. 

A ruling on the proposed rate increase is expected to be made in the coming months. 

If approved, the increase would be the second rate change implemented by the utility company in the last two years after the aforementioned time-based rate plans went into effect in 2023. Time-based plans charge a lower price for energy most of the day, during off-peak hours, but a higher price for energy a few hours a day, during the peak times of 4 to 8 p.m.

Evergy has not requested structural changes to the time-based rate plans that were implemented in 2023 as part of the latest proposal. Evergy Missouri West officials at the hearing said that with recent decreases in fuel costs, the proposed rate increase could very well end up being lower than what is currently being proposed. 

In filing the request, Evergy cited the need to recover investments made to support generation capacity and improve the grid in order to provide reliable power. The request also includes a 0.57% increase to account for increased fuel costs.

According to Evergy data, since 2017, Evergy Missouri rates have increased by about 2.5% compared to average regional state rates, which have increased by 11% over that same period. 

“We are investing strategically to ensure customers have reliable, affordable energy,” Evergy President and CEO David Campbell said in a statement. “Our focus continues to be on more efficiently running the business, which despite this period of record inflation has resulted in a reduced increase ask for our customers. While most area states have seen electricity costs increase about 11% over the past six years, Evergy’s prices have remained regionally competitive and even declined in some areas.”

Reliability improvements financed by the rate increase include:

• Replacing aging infrastructure
• Improving the ability to withstand more severe weather
• Adding technologies that better outage performance and improve our predictive maintenance capabilities
• Creating more power (or generation capacity) for customers
• Reduce exposure to big swings in pricing for electricity purchased from the market
• The cost to purchase Dogwood Energy Center to meet the growing needs of Missouri West customers

Monday’s hearing was one of five in-person public hearings scheduled between July 29 and Aug. 1. Lee’s Summit and Sedalia are also scheduled for in-person public hearings on July 30 and July 31. Remaining hearings will be limited to virtual (call-in) sessions. 

The public hearings are part of an 11-month process that began in February, where regulators are required to review, audit and evaluate the request to ensure the resulting prices reflect the actual cost of serving Evergy Missouri West customers.

Information on upcoming public hearings can be found at www.evergy.com/manage-account/rate-information-link/energy-value/missouri-west-rate-review.