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Minutes for SB81 - Committee on Utilities
Short Title
Requiring the state corporation commission to provide the legislature with an annual report of the electric rates of electric public utilities in the region.
Minutes Content for Thu, Feb 11, 2021
Matt Sterling, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, provided an overview of the bill, explaining SB81 would require the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) to report to the Legislature on the average residential, commercial, and industrial electric rates of electric public utilities in Kansas in comparison to the average rates from at least nine states in the region.
The Chairman reviewed the Fiscal Note. According to the KCC, enactment of SB81 would have no fiscal effect on the agency.
The Chairman called for proponent testimony.
Paul Snider presented on behalf of Kansas Industrial Consumers Group and Kansans for Lower Electric Rates. He stated the additional reporting required by SB81 would allow the Legislature to see if Kansas is closing the rate gap with other states or if we are losing ground. He noted attachments to his testimony which showed Kansas had the highest electric rates in the eight-state region in 2019 and fell in the middle in the average electricity retail prices in the nation. Mr. Snider said the reporting can easily be done with public data, and the KCC would be able to provide the benefit of consistency in the reporting format. (Attachment 1)
Written proponent testimony was provided by the following:
Jason P. Watkins, Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce. (Attachment 2)
Elizabeth Patton, Kansas State Director, Americans for Prosperity (Attachment 3)
Eric Stafford, Vice President of Government Affairs, Kansas Chamber (Attachment 4)
Randy Stookey, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and General Counsel, Kansas Grain and Feed Association, Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association, Renew Kansas Biofuels Association (Attachment 5)
The Chairman called for neutral oral testimony.
Doug Shepherd, Vice President of Management Consulting Services, Kansas Electric Cooperative, Inc. (KEC), presented neutral oral testimony prepared by Leslie Kaufman, Director of Government Relations and Legal Counsel, KEC, and Colin Hansen, Executive Director, Kansas Municipal Utilities. He stated although their position is neutral on the bill, they do have some concern that requiring such studies may add to the cost of providing consumers with safe, reliable, and affordable electricity. (Attachment 6)
Chuck Caisley, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Public Affairs, Evergy, presented neutral oral testimony. He stated Evergy is very supportive of transparency, but the bill is redundant, and the information is available on the internet. He said Evergy is not against SB81, if that is the will of the Committee, but if passed, he said they will have amendments to provide a bigger picture. He stated rate competitiveness is critically important to Evergy. (Attachment 7)
Justin Grady, Chief of Revenue Requirements, Cost of Serice and Finance, Utilities Division, Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC). provided neutral oral testimony, stating the KCC does not oppose the legislation, and stands ready to comply and do the will of the Committee, but is not sure it is necessary to change the law. He said the data is already readily available, compiled, and maintained by the United States Energy Information Administration. (Attachment 8)
The Chairman opened for questions.
Discussion ensued over whether rate studies could be requested of the KCC without putting such requests into law. Taking a ''deep dive versus a shallow dive" into the data was also discussed, with concerns purely volumetric rate comparisons don't tell reveal drivers behind the rates. Because deep evaluation for each of the utilities is a comprehensive process, it was decided the stakeholders will sit down and discuss how to study and report the data so it's not an unwieldy process, and report back to the Committee.
With no further discussion, The Chairman adjourned the meeting at 2:19 pm.
