By ROD ZOOK
Hutch Post
HAVEN, Kan. — The Haven City Council will continue discussion about how the city will deal with a major hike in distribution rates from Evergy once a new substation near Burrton is completed.
Evergy notified Haven that the monthly Wholesale Distribution Service Charge will increase from $4,000 per month to $11,839 per month. The increase amounts to $94,000 per year. The increase also affects the town of Mount Hope. City Clerk Leslie Atherton had urged the City Council to not pass the increase onto residents for now. The changes take effect next year, which is giving the community some time to prepare for the increase.
Brooke Carroll, CPA, Director of Administrative Services, and James Ging, Director of Engineering Services for the Kansas Power Pool, recently made an offer to the city to conduct a rate study. Meetings with the KPP representatives and the city have drawn up several matters that could be addressed. A 16-page report was provided to the council during the last meeting Sept. 8.
The report provided several options. One, according to Atherton, is to streamline the rate card for the city, eliminating several categories. Other options for consideration were increasing the base rate/customer charge, combining residential with residential all-electric, averaging the tiered rates to arrive at a flat rate, and establishing an industrial rate.
Atherton says it is still too early to know which direction the City Council will go with trying to recover the financial increase and, if so, how much rates could increase within the community.