To Terry Bassham and Executives at KCP&L,

Please lower late fee charges and or eliminate them for customers on social security disability or those who are impoverished in Kansas and Missouri.  Often, these people - such as myself - live on incomes as low as only $700 a month or less and if they can not afford the bill they also cannot afford a late fee.   Electricity and water are two of the most essential utilities to human life, especially those on disability who may  be using medical equipment that is run by electricity.

As there are no alternative power companies in most Missouri and Kansas areas that KCP&L serves, customers have gone without power in the most dire of situations due to disconnect fees, collection fees, and late payment charges. This is unfair and is concerning to the health and well-being of the people of the states of Missouri and Kansas.  

KCPL&L should also look into RECs and renewable energy sources that could potentially lower bills and use green energy sources instead of big oil companies.  I also feel there should be more accuracy in KCP&L's billing system and the amount of energy customers are using.  

Terry Bassham's salary is over 1 million dollars per year, yet he lets the impoverished people of Missouri get their power disconnected constantly over enormous bills that contain charges for more power than one household can generate.  Sign this petition today to let Terry Bassham and KCP&L know that their practices need to be addressed.

The following is my own letter to KCP&L and I encourage people to sign this petition in order to urge KCP&L and its president, Terry Bassham, to give more leniency to those facing financial hardship or are on a very limited income, to increase the accuracy of the billing and fee systems, and to move toward a renewable energy system:

To Whom It May Concern and Company Executives,

I became permanently disabled due to both physical and mental disabilities as of May 1st, 2005 and receive both Social Security Disability (SSD) as well as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) each month. 

If possible, please make it so that my bill can be auto-deducted on the 3rd day of each month. I have struggled very hard lately and myself as well as my family all live on only $740 per month from my benefits. There is no additional income, and I feel as if KCP&L has made it extremely hard for me and my family to even survive or eat each month. I have found that although I live in a very small well-insulated home and use very little electricity, my bill claims that I use on average 60 kWh per day and my bills average between $200 - $300 per month. This is a substantial amount when compared to my income, and I do not believe that my family and I use as much energy as my bill claims that I do.

Further, I have also found that it is almost impossible to get my balance down to $0.00 where nothing is owed. For example, I attempted to pay up my account this month and made several payments online. When I paid the remaining amount on my account of $26.40 on November 22, 2016, within 24-48 hours of making that payment my account was immediately assessed a $0.01 late payment charge. I went ahead and made the payment of $0.01 which I am sure is costing your company more to process from my credit card than the penny is worth. Online, it shows the payment posted on the 22nd and the late charge was assessed on the 21st but this can not be accurate as I obviously would have paid $26.41 instead of $26.40 on the 22nd, and I made a call to KCP&L customer service on the 23rd to ask about the one cent charge.

I have noticed that the majority of charges in my account are late payment charges. In fact, the total due for my bill in November was $195.73. The charges for October were $280.32. However, the total of late fees and other charges on my account from October through November totaled $57.91 which is approximately 30% of the charges of my total bill in November.

In my opinion, this is not only excessive but is largely due to the fact that due to my disability and direct deposited income has been arranged so that I can barely pay the bill, let alone on time. I have literally sold many items this year to be able to pay my KCP&L bills and fees, and when I call KCP&L customer service to state my concerns, I am given a response that there is nothing that can be done. Someone has come out twice within the past few months to disconnect my service, and would not even allow me to call my mother to come over and assist me with making a payment to the person because I didn't have the money so I had to use a check from an account that had no money in it which was returned (causing even more fees) until I could sell enough of my personal items to make the payment online, which I have.

Due to these issues, I would like to request that KCP&L adjust my due date to the 3rd of the month so that I may have it auto-deducted from my bank account when the money comes in at midnight from my SSD, otherwise I will not have the money.

Further, I would like to request the removal of the $30 returned check fee on my account as there is no other money due at this time, and had the KCP&L employee allowed a disabled woman call for assistance from her mother – who was only a 2 minute drive away – to make the payment on my behalf, I would not needed to use a check to also pay the $25 collection fee, which should not have even happened if KCP&L would have worked with me a little better to figure out why my charges are so high, help me by adjusting my due date, and help me keep my electricity on. I have been trying exceptionally hard to get my balance to zero and I see on the brochure for this program that you must have a zero balance in order to enroll. Considering my circumstances, I hope that this can be adjusted.

I would like for KCP&L to address my concerns and to move my payment due date accordingly. Thank you very much for your time and attention to this matter.

Sincerely,
Stephanie N Harkins