Kansas Gas Service urges Roeland Park to tweak 2024 energy and residential codes

Tracy Rhodes, public policy manager for Kansas Gas Service, told the Roeland Park City Council on April 6 that the utility supports changes to the city's adoption of the 2024 energy and residential building codes to protect consumer choice and housing affordability.

“Kansas Gas Service proudly provides safe, reliable, and affordable natural gas service to over 3,000 customers in Roland Park,” Rhodes said, and asked the council to consider targeted language that would allow energy-efficiency credits for high-efficiency natural-gas furnaces where the current code offers only electric credits. She also recommended removing provisions that would effectively penalize new homes that choose natural-gas appliances, saying such rules could increase build costs and discourage builders from offering gas options.

Rhodes said the recommended amendments would help Roeland Park remain compliant with the Kansas Energy Choice Act while preserving options for homeowners. She told the council that, absent the changes, “it would likely make it more expensive to build a home that uses natural gas for any application,” a dynamic she said could raise home prices or lead builders to avoid natural-gas installations.

Mayor Michael Popa and staff took the comment for the public record but did not schedule immediate action; staff has been tracking the city—s code adoption timeline and will include stakeholder input during the code-adoption process. The comment was made during the public-comment portion of the April 6 meeting and is part of the record the council will consider as it finalizes code language.

What happens next: Council members and staff said they expect to consider public comments as part of the formal code-adoption process. Any change to the city's energy or residential building code would require formal council action and explicit ordinance language before becoming effective.