If rates here are still far below the national average, why has my bill gone up for many years?
The price KCP&L-Kansas customers paid for each kilowatt-hour of electricity actually decreased several times from 1988 to 2006 (see chart). KCP&L's Missouri territories also experienced price decreases (see chart). In 2007, KCP&L filed its first rate increase in 20 years. The majority of the increase in your bill over the years has been the amount of electricity you actually use. On average, KCP&L residential customers use 42 percent more electricity today than in 1986. To illustrate that, the average number of TVs per household has increased more than 33 percent, and a 50-inch plasma unit uses four times the energy of a standard 27-inch set. Add to that the fact that average square footage for homes in our area has gone up by 18 percent over the same period, and it becomes clearer why bills have risen.
