Brian Grimmett

It’s not exactly unusual for customers to complain about their electricity bills. But repeated rate hikes over the past decade have made Westar Energy’s customers particularly mad. And last year’s merger with Kansas City Power and Light only served to keep the company’s finances — and its profit margin — in public view.

Westar Energy is organizing several community meetings across the state to help people sign up for the Low Income Energy Assistance Program.

LIEAP is a federally funded program aimed at providing a one-time payment to people struggling to pay their utility bills.

Companies have complained for years that electricity rates run higher in Kansas than in surrounding states.

That gives manufacturers and retailers in other states an edge, they say, and discourages businesses from moving to Kansas.

Now the Legislature wants to know what’s causing such a disparity.

Wind is beginning to challenge coal’s status as the primary energy source for electricity produced in Kansas.

Kansas experienced its 23rd-wettest year on record in 2018, according to weather data that goes back as far as 1895. 

Researchers at Wichita State University have found a better way to protect wind turbines from costly lightning strikes.

When lightning strikes the blade of a wind turbine it can blow the tip right off. That means costly repairs and unexpected downtime for the wind turbine.

Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State and a former Kansas congressman from Wichita, spoke about some of the key issues he is dealing with as the country’s leader of foreign policy during a brief interview Thursday with KMUW. 

Kansans can expect rising temperatures and more extreme flooding in the future, according to the latest National Climate Assessment.