Homepage / Money
Related To Story

Hearing Monday For KCP&L Rate Increase

Utility Seeks To Increase Rates By As Much As 17.5 Percent

POSTED: 3:11 pm CST March 2, 2009
UPDATED: 5:52 pm CST March 2, 2009

The Missouri Public Service Commission holds a public hearing on a rate increase for Kansas City Power & Light at 5:30 p.m. Monday.

The hearing will be held in the lecture hall at Lee's Summit North High School at 901 N.E. Douglas St.

Customers can comment on the proposed rate increase.

The utility filed requests in Kansas and Missouri in the fall seeking to increase rates by as much as 17.5 percent.

A consumer watchdog in Kansas complained about many parts of the proposal, including $3.6 million in expenses that included an employee appreciation event at the Worlds of Fun amusement park, golfing fees and tickets and meals at Kansas City Chiefs and Royals games.

The company continues to say some of those are legitimate business expenses. But spokesman Charles Caisley said Wednesday that KCP&L was dropping attempts to recover from customers those and other expenses, including $500,000 for annual expense accounts for senior executives.

"We don't want these buckets of money to distract from the real issues of the case," Caisley said.

Missouri and Kansas regulatory staffs, as well as the Citizens' Utility Ratepayer Board, which represents Kansas customers in utility cases, had challenged each of the items. The board thought many of the expenses were questionable given the recession and the difficulty some customers were having paying their electric bills.

KCP&L provides electricity to about 300,000 customers in Missouri.

Links We Like

Sponsored Content
Find out what a sputtering economy and an increasingly difficult to crack job market means to you. More

Thinking of remodeling? You don't have to spend a lot to add home value. See how even small updates can reap big financial returns. More

You don't need a gym to start a fitness plan. Try these tips on exercising by using your daily activities. More

Check out some of the most notorious police car chase scenes ever caught on tape. Don’t try this at home. More

Credit Report

560? 675? 720? The average US Credit Score is 692. What is your score? See it online for FREE! More

Best Local Rates On...



LocalNational

30 Yr Fixed Mortgage5.18%5.04%

48 Mo New Car Loan4.84%6.52%

$30k Home Eq Loan8.19%7.82%

6 Month CD0.84%0.80%
Help! I don't understand!
More Rates


Sponsored Links

Stock Quotes

Get a Quote
Enter Symbol


Gas Prices

Gas prices
Keep tabs on the latest news, and calculate the cost of a trip in our special section. More


E-Mail News Alerts
Get breaking news and daily headlines.
Browse all e-mail newsletters