Kansas to loan up to $100M to cities with huge energy costs

Driven by pleas from desperate local officials, Kansas legislators on Wednesday quickly created a state low-interest loan program to help cities cover spikes in costs associated with providing heat and electricity to their residents during last month’s intense cold snap. Lawmakers sent Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly a bill that would allow the state to loan out $100 million of its idle funds immediately to cities that operate their own electric and natural gas utilities, to cover “extraordinary” energy costs last month. Cities would have up to 10 years to pay off the loans. The bill was introduced Tuesday, had a hearing, cleared a House committee Wednesday morning and passed the House less than two hours later, 124-0. The Senate approved it, 37-1, in the afternoon, and Kelly signed it Wednesday night, her office said.
Source: Wichita Eagle