Rep. Peggy Mast is pleased with the progress being made on House Bill 2027, a bill she is pushing that will bring a utility corporation under the regulation of the Kansas Corporation Commission.
The bill, which had a hearing on Tuesday, was drawn up to address a natural gas company that serves Americus and other small communities and has no oversight. As a result, many residents of these communities feel they are being charged higher rates and fees than they otherwise would.
Mast said the committee hearing the bill was ready to put it on the consent calendar to speed up the process.
“I think they are seeing that it needs to be addressed quickly and give the residents of Americus some relief, as well as the other communities this particular company has business with,” Mast said.
She said the company has been able to avoid oversight by operating under the names of the cities it serves, such as Americus Energy and Severy Energy. This means the person who runs the company can avoid being large enough to come under the regulatory powers of the KCC.
“He operates under different names, although it’s one ownership,” Mast said, “and that’s how he’s been able to go under the radar screen of the KCC. And the KCC has been very helpful in that they took him to court because of the number of complaints they had about the way he did business, and they were unsuccessful because of the size of his individual companies. They couldn’t loop them all together.”
Mast said she spoke to the business owner herself, and that he was belligerent and seemed to hold himself above any oversight.
“With that kind of attitude, he needs oversight,” Mast said.
Comments
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Posted by madpoet (anonymous) on January 28, 2009 at 2:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thank you Peggy, for looking out for your constituents! That's exactly what our elected officials are supposed to do. We're lucky in the Emporia area to have such good representatives in Topeka.
Posted by blulitespecial (anonymous) on January 28, 2009 at 9:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Another big " Thank You". We have suffered under this burden long enough.
"...was belligerent and seemed to hold himself above any oversight..."
The bad part is- This should never have happened!
Posted by rabblerouser (anonymous) on January 30, 2009 at 3:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
My wife and I just moved to Americus and yesterday we received our 1st gas bill from Americus Energy. We was charged over $255. This amounts to extortion and price gouging. Our gas bill at our home in Sedan, Kansas through Atmos Energy cost us $114.30. I hope that this company will have to make some kind of restitution to the people that it has taken advantage of and gouged with it's outragous prices.
Posted by create (anonymous) on January 30, 2009 at 5:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Restitution sounds like a great idea to me. Go get 'em, Peggy!
Posted by blulitespecial (anonymous) on February 3, 2009 at 1:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm all for restitution! I could use an extra two grand. I think the formula the owner uses to set local gas prices is this-
Buy gas at the spot market price.(pretty high) Double it.(really high) Add 20 bucks to have a gas meter. Add a "Fuel ad" charge of $5.85. Then add "Franchise fee" of $4.56.
Posted by neighbor (anonymous) on February 3, 2009 at 3:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow, and I thought the previous owner was over charging! Good luck and thank you for your involvement Rep. Mast.
Posted by BigGas (anonymous) on March 6, 2009 at 10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Sounds like some people don't know what there talking about. It seems they hear one side and talk out their backside without hearing both sides. They should investigate all the circumstances before accusing anyone of wrong doing. Shouldn’t you ask for information from both sides before passing judgment on anyone or printing it in a newspaper like The Emporia Gazette? Apparently, the committee for House Bill 2027 got to hear both sides. Small utility companies can’t buy natural gas in bulk for a cheaper price like large gas company’s can. It’s just another way for larger companies to strong arm small ones into closing down. So much for small business being the backbone of our country. Whether it’s a small natural gas company or a small grocery store, they have to survive. State and Government regulations! Be Careful what you ask for, look what’s happening now. No matter what , we the people are the ones going to pay!!!
Posted by seriouslyfolks (anonymous) on March 6, 2009 at 10:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The Amish don't have to worry about this.
Posted by create (anonymous) on March 7, 2009 at 7:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"look what’s happening now." What's that supposed to mean? Sounds like BigGas has an inside to all this.
What's happening now is the result of this business running amok for many years and thinking they can just charge what they want for public services, in this case, keeping a small community hostage with no choices. That's criminal. That's a scam!
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