Topeka ? Utility companies, social service agencies and consumer advocates squared off Tuesday about proposed changes to the Cold Weather Rule, which keeps the heat on during the winter for people who don’t pay their bills.

Utility companies argue they are being taken advantage of by customers who know they can pay just a fraction of what they owe during the winter months and keep their heat on.

Social service agencies, however, say most who don’t pay their big winter heating bills simply can’t, because they have low incomes and their money is spent on food and shelter.

The issue was turned over to the Kansas Corporation Commission, which regulates utilities, after lawmakers couldn’t agree during the past legislative session on proposed changes to the rule sought by utility companies.

Under the Cold Weather Rule, utility service cannot be cut off for nonpayment of bills from Nov. 1 through March 31 unless there is a 48-hour forecast of 35 degrees or warmer temperatures. Customers who are disconnected can re-connect, under the rule, by paying one-twelfth of what they owe and agreeing to pay the balance of their debt during the next 11 months.

KCC Chairman Brian Moline said he was willing to look into rule changes but added, “The policy has worked relatively well.”

Utility companies want looser restrictions on when they could disconnect a customer and tighter restrictions on consumers, such as increasing the amount of payment to reconnect service.

The companies’ representatives complained that often customers got around the payment schedule by putting the connection under a different name, such as a relative or child.

“We see that happening time and time and time again,” said James Flaherty, an attorney representing Aquila Inc., The Empire District Electric Co. and Atmos Energy Corp. “This is something that needs to be addressed.”

¢ Past coverage of Westar Energy¢ Westar Energy¢ Kansas Corporation Commission

But Moline said that problem had nothing to do with the Cold Weather Rule.

Consumer advocates said the utilities’ bad debt levels were in line with that carried by other businesses and suggested the utilities try harder to collect bills.

Barbara Alexander, a consumer affairs consultant from Maine with AARP, said low-income people simply couldn’t afford to pay the winter bills. “The real problem is that there is not enough financial assistance to make the bills affordable,” she said. “We are arguing about triage.”

Utility representatives said they would never disconnect anyone who made an effort to pay but wanted more leverage to go after people who can pay but don’t.

Consumer advocates asked why children should be in jeopardy because their parents did not act responsibly.

Moline several times asked utilities representatives how many customers had avoided payment under the Cold Weather Rule. None gave him specific information.

According to the KCC staff, in April, which is when the Cold Weather Rule expires and is generally the month with the largest number of disconnections, Westar Energy Inc. and Kansas Gas Service disconnected 13,396 customers. Of those, 1,700 owed less than $50 and more than 50 percent owed less than $300.