[RobertDane]

Bravo! Bravo!..A win for the people of Kansas..



The Kansas Supreme Court has ruled that utility companies cannot charge customers who produce some of their own energy more than customers who pay for and receive power the traditional way. The court ruled the demand charges discriminatory and illegal.

There has been a pattern around the country of utilities demanding additional fees from property owners who choose to offset their utility costs by installing clean energy alternatives like solar panels and wind turbines.

The case in Kansas began in 2018 when Westar Energy, Inc. (now part of Evergy Inc.) and Kansas Gas and Electric Company created a new rate for residential customers who generated some of their own energy. The argument was that even though these “partial requirements customers” or “residential distributed generation customers” (DG customers) now used less utility-generated electricity, their personal savings did not help cover the utility company’s fixed costs (like capital investments, substations and poles, meters, billing, or customer service.) The power companies argued even though these customers are reducing their personal consumption, they should still be responsible for contributing to the cost of those needed services.

 

[Leech]

Do they not have a minimum charge per month like they do in my parts? With water, the minimum charge is $50 a month whether you use a drop or not. That's generally how the utilities skirt this issue.

 

[Danaus29]

Here they used to charge more if you use less electricity. I think the new competition stopped that because now I see no difference in the killowatt hour price between my properties.

 

[mreynolds]

Here is Texas there is a line and power company and a utility company. Line and power gets their money no matter what. I think it is like 6 or 7 cents kwh last I checked.

If you use solar or not you will only get charged by what you use by the utility company.

If you use solar you will get charged for every KWH that comes to your house but not for the back flow back to the generator.

It is sad that Kansas has to pass a law to make them do what is right. You could always move to Texas.

 

[Alice In TX/MO]

Our electric company has strange pricing, too. I am glad to see this.

 

[Mish]

Here they skirt the solar users by charging more or less based on the time of day you are using. The most expensive power rates are between 4-9 pm, which is when most solar units are cranking down for the day, especially in the winter (sun is more or less gone by around 4:30-5 right now). On top of that we are charged all sorts of charges that you pay if you're hooked up to the grid at all (which you have to be even with a solar system), like transmission, generation, distribution, local generation, competition transition charges, and I'm sure I'm missing a few.

They'll get you either way.

 

[mreynolds]

Our electric company has strange pricing, too. I am glad to see this.

In your area, you are on a member owned utility and not an investor owned one correct?

 

[Rodeo's Bud]

Here they sent a letter to all their co-op members saying they were very happy we had all decided to save energy and use less electricity.

Then they went on to say that since we, as a group, saved so much, they couldn't afford to operate and had to raise rates to compensate for the loss of revenue.

That was the end of me being frugal with my power. Now I just use as much as I want.

 

[SpentPenny]

So you off-loaded part of the cost for the utility to provide service to you onto the rest of us. Not sure I would brag about that.

 

[bmaverick]

In my area, the only real clever way around the solar ordeal is having a farm. Long as the home is on the grid, they don't care one bit. Using solar for the farm systems with 12VDC or 24VDC keeps the power company off our backs. The key is being zoned Ag and not rural residence. Farms can use the old tech windmills to pump well water out of the ground, likewise with solar. Non-farms must obtain permits and pay the city or county for adding alternative energy devices.

Farms use energy for milking equipment, lights, water heaters, fence energizers, water pumping, workshop, bug zappers, geothermal air movers, greenhouses, battery powered tools, Ag drones for fields and livestock work and other needs.

Best not to hook up the solar to the grid system. Keep it all separated. 12VDC LEDs are rather cheap if you know where to find them. Likewise with inverters or sine-wave power stepping devices to the needed voltage.

For city people, those Honda EU2000 or EU3000 portable propane/natural gas generators are becoming the BIG item to have now. As the uncertainty in these times keeps unfolding and rural land is almost unobtainable, hunkering in the suburbs people are investing in other methods. Storms have often taken out power lines and substations, HOWEVER, natural gas and propane are still plentiful in a crisis.

Cities are now using drones to monitor homes with solar setups. They are easy to spot. Wind devices are not so easy to spot. These can be different in sizes, shapes, colors and in many instances disguised. Solar by day, wind by night, and natrual gas all day long. Unless it's on a smarty meter.

Glad for Kansas to make the bold move. Let's hope other states will follow. BUT, like I mentioned, some juristictions are finding ways to place permits and yearly fees to collect taxes on the energy you are getting on your property. Wild eh?