The Kiowa City Council chose to pause before paying their entire near $135,000 bill to the Kansas Municipal Energy Agency (KMEA) from the Arctic Blast in February, which caused their bill to skyrocket. Kiowa's monthly electricity bill to KMEA is typically from $20,000 to $30,000.

May 25 the city council held a special meeting with KMEA officials present. One was General Manager Paul Mahlberg who said he started just before KMEA brought Kiowa in to the EMP3 group. The other was KMEA President Greg DuMars, who has been the city administrator at Lindsborg, Kansas, for 23 years. Also attending was...