Why you must Speak or Email during Evergy Public Hearings to hold the monopoly in check

Monopolies are illegal. At least in most industries, that is. Our country thrives on a free market system that allows consumers the opportunity to price-shop for the best deals; while holding greedy suppliers and price-gougers in check. That’s the beauty of economic equilibrium points in a capitalistic society. They allow honest supply and demand curves, when left to find their natural points, without government influence or price-fixing monopolies that throw the curves off of their natural balance.

Yet somehow we have allowed ourselves to be held captive by monopolistic utility companies who are allowed to set their rates with “government oversight” by an appointed board like the Kansas Corporation Commission (or other similar boards in other states).

This arrangement leaves the public in a position where they are not able to vote with their dollars by choosing another more competitive utility option, but instead must beg and plead for mercy from a handful of people who are given the authority to regulate the prices that affect the livelihoods of millions. Where is the freedom in that? That sounds more like slavery.

At a time when we are already victims of increasing property taxes and when runaway inflation is doubling the cost of our food and supplies, adding another increase of a necessary cost of living will continue to cause undo hardships on the masses while eroding the middle class. While we can cut our budgets somewhat by reducing our discretionary spending, necessities like food and utilities are a required cost that, aside from completely removing ourselves from the system and living off the grid, cannot be avoided by the majority.

Meeting the basic necessities of food, shelter, and utilities should not be a problem in a free country in this millenium. Where have we gone wrong?

One way is with government policy and appointed boards. As we are seeing with planning and zoning commissions, airport commissions, the newly-created Johnson County DEI and Sustainable Energy Coalitions, and others – appointed is not the same as elected. This creates a layer of government-policy-creation and authorizations that are outside of the elected officials’ oaths of office. It is hard for citizens to hold an appointed board accountable because citizens had zero input into who was appointed to that board, so the board doesn’t necessarily represent their best interests. Too many times these appointments actually open the door for the infiltration of political ideology that goes against the public testimony and desire of the constituents. Required public hearings can easily become a mere “going through the motions” to meet the legal due process requirement of notice, while the greater agenda is enforced, despite the will of the People. Those on the boards who are not part of the agenda feel the need to bite their tongues to avoid conflict or to keep from being ridiculed, or worse yet – excluded from the next board appointment!

If the public isn’t happy with the outcomes, they can’t vote those appointed members out because they never put them there in the first place. This unhealthy concentration of power in the hands of a few is one thing that has forced our country down this dangerous totalitarian path.

Utility monopolies are no exception. The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) can quickly become the rubber-stamping branch of an agenda because an appointed few are in charge of the final vote. Those appointees could have easily been installed into their positions of voting-power by someone connected with enforcing certain agendas, and the people have little to no recourse – even if these commission members have conflicts of interest with special interest groups. Lawsuits against government procedure often result in judges claiming the legal hearing process was followed to a tee, with no accountability for the actual decision that may cause harm to the majority, and the voices of the masses are drowned by the lure of the money.

As Evergy and other Kansas special interest groups are jumping on the “renewable energy” bandwagon, receiving millions of dollars in government subsidies and spending consumers’ money on massive infrastructure for questionable industrial wind and solar projects, they are requiring Kansans to participate in political ideologies that may go against their personal moral compasses or their financial common sense, because the people don’t have a choice.

When a consumer is forced to use the only provider possible for natural gas and electricity due to industry regulations that prevent healthy competition, it steals the Peoples’ right to choose and their ability to “vote with their dollar.” Imagine if Bud Light was the only beer the government let us have or if Target was the only store where we could obtain our supplies. How would anyone be able to express their disdain for the company’s actions? Yet with utilities, we’re supposed to not only continue funding the failing green agenda (green as in dollar bills), but now they want even more money to invest in even more failing infrastructure.

Aside from the potential environmental, landscape, decommissioning, and health concerns cited frequently by Senator Mike Thompson and other experts, wind turbines consume valuable energy from the grid when the wind is not blowing. That costs Kansans money and lost resources. Thankfully many counties are finally wising up and banning wind projects. But the push from the special interest groups who are loaded with infrastructure grants is not slowing, despite the awareness the public is starting to have regarding these supposed green energy projects.

Industrial-scale-solar is another problem in Kansas. On the surface, solar is a nice concept (assuming USA made components that are not carcinogenic and sites that are not so massive in size as to harm individuals, animals, and the environment.) Many consumers are installing solar on their homes. Often times these investments teter on a 20-year or more breakeven point for their energy savings calculations, because customers are not allowed to reap all of the rewards possible, since Evergy and other energy companies cap the amount of energy consumers are able to create, by limiting the sizes of the systems connected to their power grid.

If the “green energy” movement was fully about creating free power from the sun and saving the planet, and not about making a select few companies and individuals rich, wouldn’t Evergy and others welcome the opportunity for consumers to create unlimited power that is fed back into the Evergy grid to share with other homeowners? One would think. But that isn’t what the agenda is about.

The Industrial Scale Solar industry is not about creating affordable power for us locally, and there’s no requirement for the power created off of our valuable land resources to even stay in our community. The power is not owned by Evergy to be used here in our homes and businesses. Instead, it is owned by out-of-state companies like NextEra energy and their affiliates, yet we get to subsidize the infrastructure that carries that power right out of our state.

The entire industrial scale solar push is just another arm of the European Union and the UN’s global agenda and the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement. In fact, Evergy is a partner on Johnson County Chairman Mike Kelly’s Climate Action KC plan and we already know Mike Kelly is being funded, by his own admittance, to implement the Paris Climate Agreement – not only from the European Union as he claims, but also from “renewable energy” lobbyists such as the American Energy Action Fund, shown here, who paid $24,733 directly on advertising for his campaign, bypassing his own personal campaign contribution reports.

This massive “renewables” land grab destroys and decommissions valuable farmland, but again, according to these global playbooks, that’s just one step closer to implementing their 15-minute neighborhoods – also referenced in the above Climate Action Playbook.

Many special interest attorneys, companies, and union members spoke at the Clearfield, Kansas incorporation hearing in support of destroying the agricultural landscape of western Johnson and eastern Douglas Counties in favor of a massive industrial solar facility because of the astronomical profits these NGO’s (non-government organizations) and other lobbyists will rake in from the West Gardner (not even related to Gardner) Solar Project that the Clearfield incorporation was trying to keep in check. These groups don’t want average citizens creating their own unlimited power and feeding it back into the grid because the electric company would have to buy that power and they would lose control (another type of power). Self- sufficiency doesn’t pay well to those in charge of making sure you’re dependent on their system. Monopolies create these dependencies by restricting the free market .

Evergy would have increased the price before now, during the Covid madness when inflation first kicked in, but the 2018 merger would not legally allow them to raise their rates for 5 years. This is the only reason we are seeing this now and not before.

Evergy blames inflation and their plans to add more renewable energy for the estimated cost increases. It also mentions that, once again large projects like the Panasonic project are actually costing consumers instead of benefiting them because of the “robust electricity demand” of this and other development projects. They are also retiring valuable coal plants in exchange for wind, solar, and hydrogen. You can read their complete statement here: https://newsroom.evergy.com/2023-06-15-Evergy-updates-long-term-plan-for-meeting-customer-energy-needs

This entire global agenda and push of “renewables” is about power, but the “control” kind of power as opposed to the “energy” kind of power.

Henry Kissinger said, “Who controls the food supply controls the people; who controls the energy can control whole continents; who controls money can control the world.”

These monopolistic utilities checks all of those boxes.

Food is energy measured in calories and gives our bodies power. Its cost of production is greatly affected by the cost of utilities. Electricity, natural gas, and petroleum fuels are the power or utilities he called energy. Money has an energy or buying power. The last 3 years we’ve seen our buying power decrease and the cost of all energy and supplies increase.

We’ve seen the power given to these “sustainable” movements increase with not only their buying power through taxpayer-funded grants and infrastructure bills but also their power over the people who are forced to accept any rate increases or “renewable” infrastructure “investments” that the appointed boards deem acceptable.

It’s time to push back. Silence equals acquiescence. If you don’t approve, speak up and tell them you don’t. Too many people have been beaten into submission from years of speaking up with no results, but there is strength in numbers. And there’s a public record of the opposition.

Attend the meetings and say, “No!” But don’t stop there.

Let’s start a movement pushing our state senators and representatives to find a new way.

Stop the unfettered power of the Kansas Corporation Commission and other boards by making them elected positions instead of appointed positions.

Enforce the conflicts of interest with criminal penalties for these lobbyists and elected and appointed individuals who are pushing their personal and global agendas with their special deals and campaign financing.

Disband the monopolies, and create a new system of power that allows the citizens to have real choices and the opportunity to become totally self-sufficient by creating their own unlimited sources of power that can be resold on the energy market for the benefit of all.

The equilibrium curves have been out of balance for far too long with these utility monopolies. If we’re looking for something sustainable and renewable, let’s look to We the People and our ability to create enough energy to help our neighbors. Let’s open the market to fair competition. Let’s get the Federal Government and its bribe money out of the equation so we can operate autonomously at a local and State level, without the infiltration of government-funded subsidies throwing our equilibrium out of balance.

What can you do?

1. Write your representatives about changes to monopolies and the KCC
2. Attend an Evergy public hearing

The dates and times of the public hearings are:

Thursday, July 13, 2023, beginning at 6:00 p.m.
KU Edwards Campus — BEST Conference Center
12600 S Quivira Road
Overland Park, KS

Thursday, July 27, 2023, beginning at 6:00 p.m.
Wichita State University — Lowe Auditorium in Hughes Metropolitan Complex
5015 E 29th Street North
Wichita, KS

The Commission will provide a livestream for the public hearings.
Kansans wishing to make a public comment via Zoom during the hearing must register in advance
at https://kcc.ks.gov/your-opinion-matters to receive login information and time restraints for
presentations.
As there may be limited capacity, registration will be first come, first serve.
A live video stream will also be available on the KCC YouTube Channel and the Commission’s website:
https://www.kcc.ks.gov/ for individuals to watch, but not comment, during the public hearing.
No registration is required for viewing only.

In addition, the Commission is accepting written comments from the public until 5:00 p.m. (CDT),
September 29, 2023.
Comments regarding this case should reference Docket No. 23-EKCE-775-RTS.
The public can mail their comments to
the Kansas Corporation Commission
Office of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection
1500 SW Arrowhead Road
Topeka, Kansas 66604-4027
The public can also submit comments through the Commission’s website https://kcc.ks.gov/youropinion-matters or via electronic mail (sent to public.affairs@kcc.ks.gov).

The KCC has until January 4, 2024, to make a decision on the proposed rate case in this
proceeding