Despite a large cut to the corporate tax rate, Kansas utility companies say they still expect to ask for rate increases this year.
Westar Energy spokeswoman Gina Penzig says the company plans to ask state regulators for a rate change early this year. And while she says the tax savings from the recently passed cuts will be passed on to ratepayers, it won’t be enough to lower prices.
“We do expect that filing to be a request for a price increase," she says, "but a lot of the expenses that we’ll be taking before the commission will be offset by the federal tax changes.”
Penzig says the savings will be used to help pay for the new Western Plains wind farm in Ford County and increases in depreciation costs.
A spokesman for Kansas City Power & Light says it will also be asking for a rate increase sometime in the first half of 2018, and that it's still too early to determine how much of an impact the tax bill will have.
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