Is Evergy a bully with a lapdog regulator? If so, what chance do Kansas ratepayers have?

Former Kansas Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning says Evergy electric company is a bully, and is cowing state legislators and the Kansas Corporation Commission while running roughshod over consumers “big and small.”

“The KCC is supposed to regulate monopolies. But the monopolies regulate the KCC. Evergy regulates the KCC,” Denning told us.

“If any legislator questions anything they do, they send a message through their goons saying we’re going to spend $100,000 taking you out of office,” Denning said of Evergy, adding that he had firsthand experience with that. “They’re a really big bully.”

Bill Flohrs says he knows this firsthand, as well. The Overland Park homeowner was concerned about what he says was some seriously overaggressive tree trimming near his home in late 2019 by an Evergy contractor. After being told by the contractor to “f--- off,” Flohrs complained to the KCC. After months of back and forth, the KCC only last April dismissed his complaint.

Adding insult to both insult and injury, the KCC also ordered Evergy to release its Vegetation Management Program guidelines — which Flohrs says prove the tree was vastly over-trimmed. But the KCC refused to vacate its dismissal of his complaint.

Flohrs says he contacted two state legislators other than Denning. “They don’t want to touch this. I said you guys need to set up some type of audit or review committee. No way. Not a chance. Neither one of them.”

Rep. Joe Seiwert, Republican of Pretty Prairie, says he was stripped of his chairmanship of the House Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Committee last month for cosigning a letter asking the KCC to hold off on any rate increases until February’s natural gas price spike is investigated. He says he was told by House Speaker Ron Ryckman that “I didn’t get permission to write the letter.”

Ryckman declined to talk about it on the record. But it does make you wonder: If even state legislators are wary of, or even seemingly punished for, taking on an energy company, what chance do Flohrs or the rest of us have?

Not much, according to Flohrs. He says he looked at 37 KCC complaints against Evergy from March 2017 to April 2021. KCC staff recommended dismissing 35 of them. The KCC, Flohrs says, is “basically a lapdog for Evergy. Nothing that Evergy puts in front of them ever gets denied.”

KCC commissioners, Flohrs says, “are the judge, jury, prosecutor, sheriff, appeals court. I mean, it’s unbelievable.”

Kansas Corporation Commission denies it’s ‘overly deferential’

“The commission strongly disagrees with any suggestion that it is overly deferential to Kansas utilities,” Linda Berry, KCC director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, wrote in a statement. “The commission has a legal duty to balance customer and utility interests to ensure sufficient and efficient service at just and reasonable rates. The commission’s approach to this responsibility is evidenced by its consistent, firm, and transparent oversight of the entities it regulates.”

Yet, Denning noted that in the Senate he and his colleagues were expected to confirm gubernatorial appointees to the KCC who came straight from the energy industry it regulates — and it rankled him that the KCC was just fine with that.

Regarding the tree trimming dispute, Berry said, “Any allegations regarding Evergy or its employees’ conduct are best addressed by Evergy.”

In an email to The Star, an Evergy spokesperson called Denning’s accusations “false and defamatory. It’s disappointing, but not surprising, that Mr. Denning would make outrageous and malicious claims. While serving in the Legislature, he repeatedly showed a personal animus toward Evergy.”

As for the dispute with Flohrs, which has matriculated into court, the spokesperson says Evergy did nothing wrong, and that “we try to work with homeowners on compromise where possible regarding tree trimming needs.” As for the profanity allegedly leveled at Flohrs, the spokesperson said, “Our contractors are expected to treat homeowners with respect when representing Evergy in the field, and any claims otherwise are investigated.”

We don’t know whether the Kansas Corporation Commission is a lapdog for utilities. It sure seems like it. But from the consumer’s point of view, the agency sure as heck doesn’t seem to be much of a watchdog.

This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Is Evergy a bully with a lapdog regulator? If so, what chance do Kansas ratepayers have?."