KCC requests public comment on solar rates
The Kansas Corporation Commission is requesting input from the public on electric rates for solar customers. The current utility rates solar customers are paying were ruled illegal earlier this year by the Kansas Supreme Court.
Written comments can be submitted through email or letter and those who wish to speak on at the hearing will need to register with the KCC through their website. The public comment period began Oct. 15 and will end at 5 p.m. Dec. 21.
The current rates were approved in 2018 and gave Westar (now Evergy) and Kansas City Power & Light permission to charge a demand fee to Kansas residents who using solar to generate electricity at home.
Utilities had argued the fees were necessary to help maintain utility companies’ infrastructure, but opponents saw the fee as a way to discourage the expansion of solar.
The public hearing on the solar rates will be held at 6 p.m. Nov. 5th virtually on Zoom and live-streamed on the commission’s Youtube page. A new rate design must be approved by the KCC on or before Feb. 25, 2021.
This story was originally published October 19, 2020 at 1:42 PM.
