The Kansas Court of Appeals on Friday overturned two more challenges to the state's decision to distribute energy overpayments to the poor.
The Midwest Gas Users Assn. and the Kansas Energy Group are the latest plaintiffs whose lawsuits failed against the Kansas Corporation Commission. They said KCC's decision was unreasonable, but the appeals court said there is a record of "competent evidence" supporting the refund.
The plaintiffs are "asking this court to reweigh the evidence, which we will not do," Judge Christel Marquardt wrote.
During the 1970s and '80s, natural gas producers were allowed to pass the cost of Kansas ad valorem taxes onto customers a practice the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission eventually deemed illegal. Kansas natural gas producers are required to refund the overpayments.
The harsh winter of 2000-01 saw high gas use and costs, a double-whammy that left many of the state's poor unable to pay their heating bills. In January, the Kansas Senate and Kansas House passed resolutions asking the agency to direct the refunds to residential customers.
KCC obliged with an order that the money should be directed to gas customers at or below three times the federal poverty level.
Large industrial and commercial users, including Kansas University Medical Center, appealed the decision in state court, saying much of the money is rightfully theirs. The Court of Appeals turned back that challenge in November, and reaffirmed its stance with Friday's rulings.
That doesn't mean the money will soon be available. Several organizations are still pursuing their case against the KCC in federal courts.
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