TOPEKA – Westar Energy Thursday filed with the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) a request to recover the increased costs of providing electric service to customers. Westar is seeking to increase its base prices about 5.85 percent.

Adjusted for inflation, Westar’s average rates for electricity if the full request is granted would be nearly the same as they were almost 20 years ago.

“Our customers and our state depend on reliable electric infrastructure. Unfortunately the cost of keeping our system reliable has gone up,” Mark Ruelle, Westar Energy chief executive
officer, said. “We are asking the KCC to allow us to increase our prices to reflect the higher cost of providing service. While we continue to implement efficiencies in how we operate, we can only tighten the purse strings so much, given the increasing regulatory demands out of Washington as well as higher operating costs to keep equipment in good condition to provide the reliable service our customers expect and deserve.”

Reliability is increasingly crucial to all customers. As Westar works with the state and communities to help them attract new businesses or encourage existing businesses to expand, the availability of reliable electricity is a top concern.

“We have competitive electricity prices, and that attracts new businesses,” Ruelle said. “We have to deliver them reliability as well, or they won’t expand in Kansas.”

The increase for a typical residential customer would be about $6.50 per month. In aggregate, across the state to its nearly 700,000 retail customers, the amount of the price adjustment is about $91 million annually.

Among the causes for the increase, the company cited increasing costs of: complying with federal regulatory requirements; maintaining power plants and wires in good repair, rather
than replacing them at higher cost; keeping trees away from power lines; and keeping commitments to its employees who do whatever it takes to bring reliable service to its customers.