Kansas House Unanimously Passes Electric Cooperative Oversight Bill
SB 348 gives customers of cooperative subsidiaries new tools to challenge rates they consider unfair; co-ops cover more than 65,000 square miles of the state
TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas House voted 119-0 on Tuesday to pass SB 348, a bill expanding the state corporation commission's authority over subsidiaries of electric cooperative public utilities. The 28 electric distribution cooperatives in Kansas cover more than 65,000 of the state's 82,278 square miles, serving an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 accounts — roughly 10% to 15% of the state's 2.9 million residents — concentrated almost entirely in rural communities.
The bill exempts not-for-profit, wholly owned subsidiaries of electric cooperatives from commission jurisdiction but gives customers of for-profit subsidiary utilities the right to petition the commission to investigate rates. If the commission finds rates to be "unjust, unreasonable, unjustly discriminatory or unduly preferential," it could order new rates. Customers would also gain the option to terminate the subsidiary's exemption by vote. The measure addresses a gap in Kansas utility regulation where subsidiary utilities operated outside the commission's oversight, leaving customers — many in isolated rural areas with no alternative provider — with no regulatory recourse on rate disputes.
The unanimous vote is notable in a session often defined by partisan divisions. The bill now returns to the Senate, which nonconcurred with House amendments and requested a conference committee on the related H Sub Sub SB 197.
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