By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Bitter cold ushered in the new year. Now, the bill comes due.
Area customers are experiencing various forms of sticker shock as they open their heating bills this month, after the second extremely cold month to usher in 2025.
Venita Rodgers, Community and Agency Services Manager for Spire, says the utility has payment plans through a customer’s online account, where they can also find energy efficiency tips as well as enroll in budget billing.
“Just so that they know what options are available to them,” Rodgers tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “Every account is different, of course, but those are really good starting points for them to see how they can manage their bill moving forward.”
Rodgers advises customers worried about paying their bill following the sub-zero temperatures of February to go online and explore options or to call customer service.
“We have a lot of good options that are available 24/7 to manage their account, like our online My Account,” Rodgers says. “So, I would encourage customers if they look at their bill and they’re looking for options on how to manage that that they explore our My Account system.”
A spokesperson for Evergy, Courtney Lewis, encourages customers who worry about paying their bill to call.
“We can walk you through the steps,” Lewis tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “We can take a look at what your bill is and your payment history, etc. And we can really work with you to set up a payment plan and then kind of get back to a level setting, just to help you get through these few months.”
Spire has budget billing, in which customers pay the average price each month. Evergy has an Average Payment Plan.
“If you don’t like those ups and downs of energy usage and the bill that comes with it, this can really help you have a very even, sort of predictable, payment that you’re going to have each month,” Lewis says.
Rodgers says those high bills can prove to be a motivator to make homes more energy efficient and to switch to a budget billing plan.
“I would just recommend that any customer that’s looking for ways to make sure that their home is energy efficient or looking for options regarding bill payment for them to visit our website we have specifically designated for this time of year, which is spireenergy.com/coldweather,” Rodger says.
Both Spire and Evergy caution that the wrong thing to do if you are worried about paying your bill is to do nothing. Both companies say they will work with customers facing higher-than-normal bills.
Lewis cautions customers against ignoring a bill they might have trouble paying. Lewis wants customers to contact Evergy.
“We don’t want you to ignore it and then the problem compounds,” Lewis says. “We want to work with you. Our goal is really to make sure that our customers are able to keep the lights on in their home. We don’t want you being cold. We don’t want you being hot during the summer. We to make sure you’re able to safely be in your home.”
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