Just finished an audit on a large manufacturing facility in Wichita and found Westar (now Evergy) has been misapplying their Schedule LGS time-of-use rates for over two years. They've been charging summer peak rates (12.4¢/kWh) during off-peak hours and off-peak rates (4.8¢/kWh) during actual peak periods. The total overcharge is close to $50,000. Customer has 2.5MW average load so this adds up fast. Anyone dealt with Westar TOU issues before?
Westar TOU Nightmare - $50K Overcharge
Rachel, that's a massive error. Are you sure it's not a metering issue? I've seen CT ratios set wrong cause similar problems where the timestamps get flipped somehow. Have you verified the interval data matches the actual facility operations? With that kind of load, even small timing errors create huge dollar impacts.
Marcus, we verified everything. The meter is reading correctly and the interval data shows normal industrial load patterns - high during business hours, lower at night and weekends. But Westar's billing system is literally inverting the TOU periods. Their Schedule LGS shows on-peak as 1PM-8PM June through September, but bills show off-peak rates during those exact hours.
Rachel, this sounds like a database configuration error in their billing system. When Westar merged with Kansas City Power & Light to become Evergy, they had to integrate different billing platforms. I bet someone configured the TOU lookup tables backwards for your rate schedule. Document everything and get ready for a long fight.
Albert, that merger timeline makes perfect sense. This customer was moved to the LGS schedule right around the time of the Evergy transition in June 2018. I'm pulling bills from before the merger to see if the TOU rates were applied correctly under the old Westar system.
Following this thread with interest. We audit several Evergy accounts in Kansas City and haven't seen this specific issue, but there were definitely billing irregularities after the merger. Rachel, make sure you get copies of both the old Westar and new Evergy tariffs. The rate schedule numbering changed and that might be part of the problem.
Update: Found the smoking gun. Pre-merger bills from early 2018 show correct TOU application under Westar Schedule LGS. The error started in July 2018 when they switched to Evergy billing. Customer's peak demand actually increased during the summer but their bills went down because they were getting off-peak rates during peak hours.
Rachel, you need to contact the Kansas Corporation Commission immediately. With a $50K overcharge, this needs regulatory attention. Evergy will probably claim it was a one-off error, but if it happened to your client, it probably happened to others. The KCC takes billing system errors seriously, especially post-merger.
Ed, already filed with KCC and they're taking it seriously. Evergy is claiming they need 90 days to investigate but we have irrefutable evidence. The interval data, tariff sheets, and billing comparisons tell the whole story. KCC staff said they'll expedite if we can identify other affected customers.
Rachel, I'll check our Evergy accounts for similar TOU issues. We have about a dozen large commercial customers who might be affected. If I find anything, I'll coordinate with you and KCC. This could be a class action situation if the billing error was systematic across multiple rate schedules.
Final update on this case - Evergy agreed to full refunds plus 8% interest going back to July 2018. Total settlement was $52,400 for this one customer. KCC found 47 other affected accounts with similar billing errors. Evergy had to hire an outside auditing firm to review their entire TOU billing system. Great work documenting everything, Rachel!