Kansas committee hears sharp debate over bill letting gas utilities defer costs and seek interim recovery

TOPEKA — The Committee on Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications heard a first‑reading hearing on House Bill 24 35 on Jan. 26, a bill that would let Kansas natural gas utilities defer depreciation and carrying costs into a regulatory asset and recover those amounts either in rates or through a new interim recovery mechanism.

Proponents, led by Patrick Vogelsberg of Kansas Gas Service, said the legislation remedies “regulatory lag” — the time between when utilities put plant into service and when those costs are recovered in a general rate case — and would put gas utilities on parity with recent electric accounting changes. Vogelsberg, who identified his employer as the state’s largest local distribution company, said the bill includes consumer protections such as KCC prudency review and a 20‑year amortization of deferred balances. “This allows for more stable, modest increases to happen over time instead of customers getting…