10 May 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Kansas customers who get their natural gas from Atmos Energy will pay more starting this month, but not as much as Atmos Energy originally wanted.
The company went to the Kansas Corporation Commission last September and asked for an $8.3 million net revenue increase. The KCC regulates utility rate increases in Kansas.
If the KCC had approved the company’s request, the average residential customer would have paid $5.67 more monthly.
But this week, the KCC approved a smaller increase of $2.2 million, or about $1.03 a month for the average residential customer. The smaller amount is a settlement agreement negotiated by KCC staff, the Citizens Utility Ratepayer Board (CURB), Atmos and WoodRiver Energy LLC.
Atmos supplies natural gas to more than three million customers in eight states. It has 139,000 customers in Kansas. See the areas highlighted in yellow on the map.
According to the KCC, the approved increase will be spread out among all of the company’s customer classes, whereas the original request only sought an increase for its residential customers.
The KCC says the settlement also addressed other issues, such as allowing Atmos to continue to utilize the Gas System Reliability Surcharge (GSRS) tariff for replacing its aging infrastructure in the state, waiving the requirement to charge customers a credit card fee, and approving a voluntary smart choice carbon offset pilot program.
Click here to read the 37-page KCC order.