NATION AND WORLD
University Daily Kansan, March 20, 1984
Page
KCC favors KP&L customers in decision
By JENNY BARKER Staff Reporter
Lawrence residents may save money on their April electricity bills because of a decision by the Kansas Corporation Commission on Thursday that forces the Kansas Power and Light Co. to pick wires on a coal pile that frost last December.
Gary Haden, a KCC spokesman, said yesterday that KP&L could not pass on to its customers the cost of the electricity that KP&L had to purchase because a frozen coal pile prevented the company from generating enough electricity to supply its customers. KC estimated that the frozen coal pile at the Jeffrey Energy Center cost KP&L $1.3 million.
Haden said the decision would save the average electricity-consuming
household with gas heating and electric appliances, about $2.50 on its April bill and would save an all-electric house- household $7 to $8.
DESPITE THE commission's decision to not charge KP&L customers for costs resulting from the frozen pile, Haden said April electricity bills would reflect the cost of the electricity KP&L had to purchase to meet the extra demand caused by the extremely cold December weather.
Haden said the KCC staff studied PK4L1's plan to charge customers $6.1 million, in addition to the usual charges, over a three-month period. The staff determined that $1.3 million of the $6.1 million cost was caused by the high volume and that this cost should not be paid for by electricity consumers.
plant correctly." Haden said.
The KCC staff decided that the remaining $4.8 million was due to the cost of electricity KP&L bought to meet increased demand for electricity durably and be a member and that KP&L should be allowed to pass this cost on to the customer.
Haden said that $3.9 million of the $4.8 million had been paid by electricity consumers through fuel adjustments on their February and March bills, and that the remaining $900,000 would be paid by KP&L customers in April.
HADEN SAID the KCC would make its final decision today, but he was certain KP&L would have to bear the cost resulting from the frozen pile.
He said the commission would decide whether two other partners in the Jeffrey plant operating agency in Wichita and the Western Power Division of
Centel would also be forced to bear part of the cost.
KG&E owners 20 percent of the Jeffrey plant, Centel owners 8 percent, and KF&L owners 64 percent. The other 8 percent is owned by a Missouri company.
Sen. Wint Winter, R.Lawrence, said he agreed with the KCC's decision.
"When something wrong occurs in the operations of a utility and it's something they should have been able to prevent, they shouldn't be able to pass the cost of it on to consumers," he said.
Winter said the decision could also be applied to the growing construction costs of the Wolf Creek Nuclear Power Plant, near Burlington.
"The debate on Wolf Creek surrounds the question of to what extent we ought to review decisions of management." Winter said.
City studies plans for historical preservation
By SHARON BODIN Staff Reporter
Lawrence city commissioners and a research hired by the city agree that Lawrence's historical buildings must be designed, but they disagree on how to do that.
Dale Nimz, the researcher, has worked since July on a report of the city's history that he outlined yesterday at a study session for commissioners.
Nimz suggested to the commissioners that the city designate a special commission, to be called the 'Heritage Preservation' in an historical preservation in Lawrence.
"IT WOULD BE very valuable to have some group that was working on workshops to inform people about historic buildings," he said. "It would be helpful to have a tax-incentive workshop, for example.
"The main priority is to develop
some kind of structure to deal with the project. There should be some kind of
structure.
Commissioner Ernest Angino said he thought that a separate group was not necessary to deal with historical preservation in Lawrence. The Lawrence Arts Commission or the Douglas County Arts Council should deal with the project, he said.
A temporary task force would be better than an established commission; City Manager Buford Watson said, because special commissions sometimes run out of things to do but are reluctant to disband.
Nimz disagreed with the task-force idea and with the suggestion of turning a machine shop into a factory.
"ONE OF THE PROBLEMS in the past has been that historical preservation has been a stepchild and has been overlooked." he said.
Angino asked him if enough interest existed to establish a separate group to
handle the project.
"There is public interest." Nimz said, "I'sus not very organized."
Nimz said that the main cost to the city for a special commission would be administrative, and it would be a low cost.
"I don't think the city should cheerlead on this issue," he said. "But there needs to be public responsibility. The state and the county have recognized that, and I think the city of Lawrence should recognize that."
Commissioner Nancy Shontz said that a historic commission would help show the importance of certain buildings, but Angino said that designating which buildings had historical significance would be difficult.
"EVERYTHING THAT IS old isn’t historic," Angino said. "When one identifies certain material that was written out why it is historic in Lawrence or in Douglas County. Just
to point to a building and say it's historic doesn't convince anyone.
Commissioners also discussed designation of a historic district in Lawrence so that owners of the buildings would be eligible for tax breaks.
Nim said, "We don't have the kind of resources to draw a line and designate a point."
Lawrence does not have a concentration of historic buildings in any one area, he said. The historic buildings are scattered throughout the city.
Nimz' final report will be completed early next month, he said.
Nimz has a graduate degree in American Studies from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.emphasis is in historical preservation.
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Owners of 'lemons' may find some relief
By MARY SEXTON Staff Reporter
For those people who think they may have a "kid" in their driveway, a recent agreement between the Federal Trade Commission and General Motors Corp may make the vehicle a brain of detective cars more bearable.
The relief comes in the wake of an arbitration program set up last year after three years of legal disputes between GM and the FTC. The program was designed to help consumers recoup the losses they incurred while owning certain defective GM cars, Clyde Chapman of the Consumer Affairs office said yesterday.
Under the agreement between the FTC and GM, consumers may file a claim asking for automobile repair financial compensation with the Better Business Bureau. The bureau then sends the claim to a GM dealer, who can then claim and offers a settlement to the consumer, Chapman said.
IF THE SETTLEMENT offer is not satisfactory to the consumer, he would then go before an impartial arbitrator with his claims. The arbitrator would then make a decision. That decision would be binding to GM, but if the consumer is not satisfied with the decision, he may seek further recourse, such as court proceedings, he said.
Consumers can use the process no matter how old the car is or how many
miles it has, whether the car is bought new or used, and even if a person owns it.
As a part of the agreement between GM and the FTC, consumers can go to any Better Business Bureau in the country and present their claims before an impartial arbitrator in an informal hearing. Chapman said.
He said that Consumer affairs' roll was to give information on the program to Douglas County residents, participate in the arbitration process.
"WE HAD 300 complaints all of last year and 150 in the last three months." Buckley said. "All of these claims are eligible for arbitration.
David Buckley, of the Better Business Bureau of Greater Kansas City Inc., said that since GM started arbitration programs last year, many consumers had taken advantage of the programs.
Any consumer that has had an expense on any of the three components listed is eligible for compensation, Buckley said. The components include any premature failure of the "150 diesel engine in GM cars and trucks," "2000 wood" and automatic transmission; and camshaft and lifters in GM engines.
Buckley said that people in Douglas County with complaints would file them in the Topeka Better Business Bureau office.
Chapman said that the Kansas Attorney General's office published several reports last month to help law enforcement along in the arbitration process.
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