top of page
Save the link you used to reach this page about Evergy.
Because it is not in the page menu above,
and not available to the public.
If you are not yet a client,
I would strongly suggest you click on our logo above to visit our home page.
That should be worth much more than saving money on your electric bill.
Don't you just love Evergy's new required rate plans,
charging you high rates when you need electricity
and low rates when you do not.
Not limited to just Evergy in Missouri, but also
Ameren Missouri and
Liberty Utilities (previously Empire District Electric)
To make it simple, instead of writing "The Electric Company" I will refer to all of these companies as Evergy.
The rate plans are not exactly the same, but the principle is.
If you live in Kansas, Evergy is only affecting Missouri right now...but just wait.
A few clients asked me if I had had any suggestions as to which plan to choose. I said "Sure, I will look into it."
What a time consuming and DUMB thing to say (grin).
The good news: you can change plans again during any month.
The bad news: the sentence above is the only good news.
The worse news. Evergy has now told the Missouri public service commission that they want you to NOT be able to switch back to a previous plan for one year.
I will get to a suggested plan choice in a minute,
(and add a bit of satire and a little humor,
especially if you imagine this being read in a high pitched voice by someone frustrated like Gilbert Gottfried)
but first...
I'm not saying they are a bunch of vultures...you decide.
A google search of Evergy executives goes to salary.com shows
6 people earning approx $1,700,000 to $7,000,000.
Many included bonuses of $1/2 million+
I agree that to attract top talent companies need to pay high.
But this is a monopoly, we have to use them.
Plus 10 of the board of directors
earned over $300,000 (assumed part-time)
Source link available, just ask.
After investing a long time on their website (multiple times),
and reading my 'personalized' recommendations, my blood pressure went up.
If you read their in-depth details (not just their brief summary),
you were probably in the same boat as I was. Confused.
To determine the best plan,
1. We have to guess how much we can or are willing to adjust our lifestyle,
and at what time of day...and whether just weekdays or weekends.
and be willing to be too hot or too cold,
or have laundry sitting in the dryer at 2am getting wrinkled, etc.
2. Or we can decide we are not going to change when we use electricity.
In either case, our bill will change.
ARGH!
I can discuss quantum physics and Einstein's theory of relativity with the best of them.
But trying to firure out the best plan is impossible.
I'm so frustrated trying to figure this out,
I make this guy look like he's relaxed!
The following is specifically about one plan, but actually addresses all plans because of their 4-8pm high rates.
Nights & Weekends Plan. Or the similar named Nights & Weekends Max Plan.
When they announced their new plans and told us we needed to make a choice, their options all ended with the word "saver." So I had previously written how that very confusing. Maybe they read this and decided to take my advice.
To name these 2 plans, you would think that they could have just added a "+" sign after "plan," but, Nooooo.
Remember, the guy is getting paid per character.
(I must be too, with all of the quotation marks in the above sentence.)
Less than 3 cents in the summer, but only from midnight until 6am.
But almost 36 cents when you need it from 4 until 8pm!
but great, it is only 12 cents until 4pm.
And they tell you to turn on more air conditioning when you do not need it, before 4pm when the rates go up.
So your house will get cool and stay cool before the rate goes up.
Have you noticed that when it is hot outside and the electricity goes off, that it gets hot in your house very quickly?
But you are supposed to overcool your home when the rates are lower, and hope it does not get too hot during their 4 hour penalty rate?
To store up the cool air in the summer, I guess I need overrun my air conditioner & put on my winter coat and stocking hat before 4pm.
Electric vehicle plan option is somewhat hidden.
Set your car to charge during the night and it is cheap. Less than 3 cents.
And here is where I will make some enemies.
Why in the world are we encouraging people to buy electric cars and use more electricity when we do not have enough?.
Giving rebates for buying things like electric cars that use what we do not have enough of!
Electric cars that have gigantic, up to 4,000 pound, batteries that most are produced in China.
Do we really want to become even more dependent upon China?
Or unfriendly countries that mine the required precious metal elements?
Brownouts, when the power company shuts off power because there is too much demand, happened here and to much of the United States a couple of years ago.
Look at California, they have become normal there.
Why not never or just delay encouraging people to buy electic vehicles until we have enough of it?
Government's rebates on electric cars. Isn't that like if the government started doing rebates on hand sanitizer when there was not enough during the start of the pandemic?
Since your air conditioner is probably running almost continuously in the hottest days anyway, how do you overcool before 4pm.?
I've got it...I will open my fridge and freezer doors to help cool the house before 4pm,
Because the rates are 3 to 12 times more expensive for when I need it most!
My head is going to explode!
If I am not going to be home before 4 pm, I need to run my air conditioner continuously before that to store up the cool air.
But I am not going to be home until 6pm and the overcooled air will be gone by then!
Idea. I will just sit in the driveway with my car running to stay cool from 6 until 8pm when the stupid rate goes down!
Or maybe I should just open all of the jars and containers in my house when it is cool, then put a lid on them so I can open them when I get home.
For practice, I tried filling up my shower with cold water, then opening the door when I got home...
(I'm not a doofus, I have a tile floor, so I knew the cold water would cool off the floor and help with the rest of the house.)
Duh me. Water runs down the edges of the room.
Anyone want to help me clean up 87 waterlogged cardboard boxes filled with junk in the basement?
Great news. I found a plan with great rates on the weekends during the summer.
Wait, it is just the weekends. I spend the weekends at the lake in the summer.
The rate is so low, I think I will make the house cold even when I am not there.
I feel like Evergy is the Road Runner
and you and I are the Coyote.
Whatever we do, we end up in a mess.
And if I was not expecting big Evergy bills,
I could afford to pay the licensing fee for the real Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote images.
Synopsis:
Right now I feel like I am in the same situation as when the doctor puts on a glove and says
"Bend over, this is not going to hurt."
But I know it will!
Initially I thought perhaps choose one plan during the summer,
then switching to another during the winter, But that is not compelling unless you are changing when you use electricity. And be prepared for a large bill if you forget to switch back.
However, Evergy has now told the Missouri Public Service Commission that they do not want to allow you to switch back to a previous plan in less than one year.
So if you chose the wrong one...tough.
so if you switch, then decide you should have stayed with your previous plan, Evergy wants to prevent you from changing back for a year.
If you are selective of times you will use electricity, I believe you can save money with another plan, but be prepared for large bills if you use too much during the penalty rate periods.
I am choosing, and plan to stick with, the "Default Time Based Plan" previously named Peak Reward Saver.
(not the original default plan. They decided to assign everyone to a different default plan if you do not make a choice)
I know I could potentially save a few hundred dollars a year with another choice. However, the risk of having a surprise bill just one month that could easily be many, many times more than my annual savings is just not worth it.
Let me know what you decide, and if you enjoyed my humor.
Use the "contact us" link at the top of this page,
Or just call the phone number at the bottom.
And if you are not a client,
be sure to click on our logo at the top left of the page,
(to go to our home page).
That should be worth a lot more to you than saving on your electricity bill.
You are welcome to share the link to this page with anyone!
But do not share it with Evergy.
Otherwise I can just imagine calling them then in the middle of the night when the temperature is below zero
with this conversation:
Leonard:
My electricity is out, but the lights are on at all my neighbors.
Evergy:
We shut your power off because you did not pay your bill.
Leonard:
I mailed a check 3 weeks ago.
Evergy:
Let's see...was that check number 17325,
dated December 27th,
from First National Bank, account number 981645?
Leonard:
Yes, yes, that's it!
Evergy:
Sorry, we did not receive that check.
(and if we were on a facetime or video call it would continue):
Leonard:
That's my check in your hand!
Evergy:
Uh, no. That is, uh, wait...that's my cellphone bill...
I just cut it to the shape of a check.
addendum:
Rate plans and rates within areas, such as metro and rural, are different. I compared the rural rates to metro, and the choice I made would be the same in rural areas. These are my thoughts, of course this is not guaranteed to be be correct, or that these are the right plans for you.
Evergy now states they are not responsible for the new rate plans being instituted. Evergy says it was mandated by the Missouri Public Service Commission. But do you really think they would be against more $ collected from you? If you are politically minded, maybe this is the time to call Evergy and your favorite, or your non-favorite representatives.
bottom of page