Kansas utility regulators finds no issues with smart meters

The Kansas Corporation Commission, which regulates utilities, ruled that the investor-owned Westar and KCPL did not have to provide opt opportunities for customers opposed to "smart meters" or Advanced Meter Infrastructure (AMI).

This was an issue in the recent Independence debate which was settled when a 5-2 council majority voted not to proceed with AMI. 

The Kansas regulatory ruling noted that only 5 out of 473,976 KCPL customers actually utilizing its opt out provision.

The ruling since it "found no health, safety, or privacy risks or legitimate threats faced from the use of AMI meters, it makes little sense to mandate that Kansas public utilities create a new program for such a small subset of customers."