KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The total cost from a more than week-long cold snap that brought the Midwest power supply to the brink of collapse is nearly $1 billion — and growing.
The greatest breakdown during the storm, which forced controlled electrical blackouts in Kansas and Missouri, industry groups have said, was natural gas, which was in short supply and rose to 200 times its normal price during the worst stretch of the storm.
So far, two of Kansas’ largest natural gas companies have filed to collect a combined $539.5 million from ratepayers over as long as 10 years. Some Evergy customers in Kansas will pay for $152.3 million in power costs from Winter Storm Uri over two years.
But as regulators review those companies’ plans and prepare to pass on the costs to Kansas ratepayers, some groups representing large-scale customers say that — even six months later — the state has more work to do investigating the cause of huge natural gas price spikes during the storm.
“We don’t know who got the bag of cash, but somebody got it,” said C. Edward Watson II, an attorney representing several large-scale customers, including the Catholic Diocese of Wichita.
Watson, on behalf of his clients, joined a motion filed with the Kansas Corporation Commission by the Natural Gas Transportation Customer Coalition to subpoena a national gas price index to look for signs of market manipulation or dysfunction. NGTCC, represented by attorney Jim Zakoura, also wants the Kansas Gas Service to disclose the names of suppliers that charged such high prices during the storm. In the filing, Zakoura wrote KGS has not challenged the extraordinarily high February gas prices.
“Essentially, KGS has abandoned its advocacy on behalf of its Kansas ratepayers — the very ratepayers who will be obligated to pay $451 million for seven days of natural gas, if ordered by the commission,” the filing says.
KGS has yet to file a response to the motion but said in a statement it cooperated with investigations into the natural gas price spike and disputed some invoices from its suppliers. It did not answer whether it agreed with the call for subpoena of S&P Global Platts Gas Daily.
At the same time, the attorney general’s office is investigating whether any price gouging took place during the storm.
The Citizens’ Utility Ratepayer Board, the state’s dedicated consumer advocate, said it’s important the parties cooperate with that investigation.
In a statement, Black Hills Energy’s spokesman, James Williams, also pointed to the attorney general’s investigation.
“Identifying who profited from the winter storm is the responsibility of governmental bodies, but the cost of gas is a pass-through expense for Black Hills Energy,” Williams said. “We’re committed to helping find a solution for our customers that lessens the impact of this historic event.”
In Missouri, Spire has yet to file a plan to recover the costs it incurred to keep heat on for Kansas City-area and Western Missouri residents during the storm. In an email, a spokesman said the utility would file with the Public Service Commission this fall.
Spire is currently in a battle over a pipeline it installed in the St. Louis area, which it says was instrumental in avoiding the need to cut off gas service to residents in eastern Missouri.
‘$1 billion and it’s all gone’
