Heard from a colleague that Westar is doing a major rate restructure this year. Something about consolidating their commercial rate schedules. Anyone have details on this? I've got 3 clients in Wichita that could be affected.
Westar Energy rate restructure in Kansas - anyone tracking this?
Yes, saw the KCC filing last month. They're combining schedules GS-1 and GS-2 into a new General Service rate. Effective April 1st. The demand charge structure is changing - going from seasonal to year-round tiered demand charges.
This could be big. I've got a client on GS-2 paying $8.50/kW in winter and $12.75/kW in summer. If they flatten that out, could save us money. Or cost us. Anyone run the numbers yet?
I'm working through it now. Looks like customers under 100kW demand will generally save money. Above that, it depends on load factor. The new rate has a ratchet provision that the old GS-1 didn't have.
Watch out for the demand ratchet - it's 75% of the highest demand in the previous 12 months. That's going to hurt customers with seasonal peaks. Make sure to document peak demand patterns before the switchover.