<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1602870479375.png" alt=" An electric utility smart meter. Brian Grimmett / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption> An electric utility smart meter. Brian Grimmett / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>By BRIAN GRIMMETT <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/post/100000-plus-kansans-struggle-pay-utility-bills-and-could-mean-higher-bills-everyone">Kansas News Service</a>WICHITA, Kansas — The blow the coronavirus dealt to 
the Kansas economy left tens of thousands of people in the state 
struggling to pay their utility bills.That puts them at risk of 
losing electricity or natural gas — and raises the prospect that 
better-off Kansans weathering price hikes to make up the difference.Utility
 companies say the number of households unable to keep up with payments 
looks likely to increase during the winter. Agencies that help the poor 
pay for utilities are braced for more requests than they can cover.“I’m not going to lie. I’m a little nervous about this coming year,” said Lewis Kimsey, the manager of the<a href="http://www.dcf.ks.gov/services/ees/Pages/EnergyAssistance.aspx" target="_blank"> Kansas Low Income Energy Assistance Program</a>, or LIEAP.That
 federally funded program offers financial assistance to utility 
customers based on income, household size and other factors. It’s 
available to Kansans between the months of December and March.This year, <a href="https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ocs/dcl_liheap_reallotfr1table_statesterrs_fy2020.pdf" target="_blank">Kansas got about $47.5 million dollars</a>.
 About 10% goes to administration costs. Another 15% goes toward 
weatherization programs. The rest is used to help low-income households 
pay utility bills.Kimsey said he’s actually seen a decline in 
the number of people applying for the program each of the past 5 years. 
Even this year, with an expanded deadline that went through May, Kimsey 
said the agency only approved about 34,000 applications, which is 600 
fewer than last year.He said some of the effects of 
coronavirus-related hardships will be delayed, and that we’re likely far
 from the peak of people needing assistance. That’s because earlier this
 year people got beefed-up federal unemployment checks and the state of 
Kansas declared a moratorium on all utility disconnects. Both of those 
have now gone away.“Now that moratorium is done and they’re 
feeling pressure,” Kimsey said. “We’re planning that our application 
volume for 2021 is going to be significantly higher.”<h2>100,000 Kansans struggle</h2>To gauge the toll of the pandemic on the industry, several utilities asked state regulators to <a href="https://estar.kcc.ks.gov/estar/portal/kscc/page/docket-docs/PSC/DocketDetails.aspx?DocketId=6387a52a-f672-49a1-a7a5-b1ebf3a76bf6" target="_blank">record their increased costs</a>
 for things such as personal protective gear and laptops for employees 
to be able to work from home. That tally could give the companies 
ammunition the next time they ask regulators to raise rates to 
customers.State regulators are also curious about how many 
customers are behind on their bills or being involuntarily disconnected 
from service. The reports give a fresh look at the scale of the problem.In August, Evergy, the state’s largest electric utility, had <a href="https://estar.kcc.ks.gov/estar/ViewFile.aspx/S202009251436011956.pdf?Id=bf8aee79-b8a6-403d-b4e7-f05f51eff750" target="_blank">100,050 residential accounts</a>
 that were either more than 30 days past due — or that had signed up for
 a 12-month payment plan that evens out outstanding utility costs across
 the year.That’s more than one in 10en of all residential customers.Evergy
 spokesperson Gina Penzig said the company started reaching out to 
customers on the brink of being disconnected in early June to offer them
 the 12-month payment plan.“The payment plans are a valuable 
tool in order to give customers an opportunity to keep their account 
current, keep their service engaged,” Penzig said.And it seems 
to have worked. In June, just 3,283 residential customers signed up for a
 12-month payment plan. Two months later, that number rocketed six-fold 
to nearly 20,000.Penzig says the increased adoption of the 
payment plan has kept involuntary disconnections about the same as they 
would be in a normal year.And even though high winter heating 
bills have yet to hit, the state’s larger natural gas providers are 
already seeing evidence that customers are struggling to keep up.In August, almost <a href="https://estar.kcc.ks.gov/estar/ViewFile.aspx/S202009251616397641.pdf?Id=e9e0d2cc-2d96-4ede-8db2-82e4149391bc" target="_blank">75,000 Kansas Gas Service residential customers</a> were more than 30 days past due or had signed up for a 12-month payment plan.That’s about 13% of residential customers.Kansas
 Gas Service spokesperson Lindsay Freeman said the company has also 
tried to help people apply for payment help and sign up for the 12-month
 payment plan.“We can still work with them on payment options and arrangements, but they must reach out to us,” Freeman said.<h2>Delayed problem</h2>While
 12-month payment plans have helped remove customers from the bad-debt 
list and prevented involuntary disconnections, the relief may be 
temporary.“We hope that the 12-month payment 
plans are going to work out, that they’re not just pushing the problem 
out,” said David Nickel, consumer counsel with the <a href="http://curb.kansas.gov/" target="_blank">Citizens Utility Ratepayer Board</a>, a government agency that represents consumers and small businesses before state regulators.Jim
 Zakoura, president of the advocacy group Kansans For Lower Electric 
Rates, said he’s skeptical that unemployed people without the extra 
federal unemployment benefits offered earlier in the year will be able 
to keep up with the plans in the months ahead.And Zakoura said other ratepayers may get stuck with higher bills.“All of those expenses will be included in the next rate case and will be added to the bills of customers who can pay,” he said.Kimsey,
 the Kansas LIEAP program manager, said looking at the tens of millions 
of dollars in unpaid bills out there is shocking. But, the program has 
money — he just needs more people to apply.“I’d much rather have
 people apply and not qualify,” he said, “than have people not apply 
that qualify and are in desperate need of the help.”Brian 
Grimmett reports on the environment, energy and natural resources for 
KMUW in Wichita and the Kansas News Service. You can follow him on 
Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/briangrimmett?lang=en" target="_blank">@briangrimmett</a> or email him at grimmett@kmuw.org.

100,000-plus Kansans struggle to pay utility bills, which could drive costs up for everyone