After budget billing changes, KCP&L offers payment options, delays disconnections

Kansas City Power & Light said it wants to offer some help after hundreds of customers were surprised by significant increases on their electric bills this summer.

The company announced Friday in a news release it would temporarily expand its payment options for customers who still owe money and delay residential disconnections.

Through Sept. 30, KCP&L said it won’t be disconnecting residential customers who owe on their bills. It also said it’s allowing people a four-month period to pay off a large bill.

The announcement came after some adjustments were made to KCP&L’s Budget Billing program, which led to 900 customers receiving bills more than $100 larger what they’ve paid previously, The Star reported earlier this week.

The Budget Billing program is supposed to work like this: A customer is charged the same amount each month, and that monthly amount depends on how much energy those households use each year, KCP&L said on its website. The company said it uses the average of a customer’s last 12 bills to determine their monthly budget billing amount, but as it warns, “extreme temperatures” could cause a household’s average energy usage to fluctuate — often leading to larger bills.

KCP&L pointed to this summer in particular as “one of the hottest” on record, citing rankings from the National Centers for Environmental Information.

“We understand that our customers are feeling the stress of higher bills due to one of the hottest summers on record,” Chuck Caisley, chief customer officer, said in a statement. “We are providing extra time and additional payment options to help customers manage this expense.”

Customers who want to take advantage of the extended pay period are asked to call KCP&L at 816-471-5275 or 888-471-5275 after Labor Day.

Meanwhile, an online petition calling for an audit of KCP&L is ongoing in response to the Budget Billing program changes. As of Friday, more than 58,000 people had signed it.