Can Kansas or Missouri utilities cut your electricity in a heat wave? What the laws say
Editor’s note: When initially published, this story lacked an important piece of information. We have added information to clarify that Missouri’s hot weather rule does not prevent utility companies from temporarily cutting electricity in the case of a grid emergency to prevent widespread blackouts.
Kansas City’s facing extreme heat. Temperatures are jumping into triple digits, and the Mid-America Regional Council issued 12 air quality alerts this year, the most in one calendar year.
In other areas around the country, grid operators have asked residents to conserve power when temperatures are high and heat advisories are announced.
Rolling blackouts are used as an emergency measure when the power grid cannot keep up with demand. Can this happen in the Kansas City area as the temperature rises?
Technically yes, but experts in the area don’t anticipate it being a problem this year.
The Southwest Power Pool, the grid operator for 15 states in the United States, including Missouri and Kansas, put out its summer reliability assessment and estimates that they’ll have enough power to meet the demand for electricity and avoid rolling blackouts.
Evergy, which is a part of the SPP and oversees the Kansas City metro, coordinates with the SPP to provide electricity throughout the region. The SPP has the power to ask Evergy to implement temporary electricity reductions in emergency situations to avoid power outages.
The SPP’s assessment shows a 99.5% probability that it will have enough resources available to serve the region’s utility needs during peak hours throughout the summer.
ARE THERE PROTECTIONS IN PLACE AGAINST ROLLING BLACKOUTS?
Missouri and Kansas have different rules in place in the 0.5% instance that the SPP doesn’t have enough resources.
Missouri observes the hot weather rule. The rule means that utility services can’t disconnect service due to missed payments on bills during times of extreme heat, but it does not prevent utility companies from cutting electricity in the case of a grid emergency.
This means that in emergency situations, the SPP could order utility companies to conduct what’s called a “controlled interruption,” in an effort to prevent a more widespread, dangerous loss of power, according to Evergy. For example, during winter storm Uri in 2021, the SPP ordered emergency interruptions so the region wouldn’t face uncontrolled outages like Texas experienced that left people without power for days.
The hot weather rule related to non-payments is in effect from June 1 to Sept. 30 every year, and it’s applied on any day when the National Weather Service’s forecast predicts the temperature will be hotter than 95 degrees or the heat index is higher than 105 degrees.
Kansas doesn’t have a hot weather rule, so the state can legally turn your electricity off in a heat wave. But the state does have a cold weather rule. The rule helps ensure you will have electric, gas and water service for your home during the winter, and it applies to residents under the Kansas Corporation Commission’s jurisdiction.
The rule means utility services can’t disconnect you when the temperature is forecasted to drop below 35 degrees within a 48-hour period. Utilities must inform residents of the rule and the following payment plans to keep their services active after the rule is no longer in effect:
Agreeing to pay 1/12 of the overdue amount of your bill, plus 1/12 of your current bill, all disconnection and reconnection fees plus any applicable deposit owed to the utility, and agree to pay the remainder in equal payments over the next 11 months; or
Negotiating a payment plan to pay the overdue amount off in fewer than 12 months.
They can disconnect your utilities once the temperature is above 35 degrees if it’s not paid in full, or you don’t have a payment plan.
This story was originally published July 12, 2023 at 8:00 AM.
