KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — State government mandates requiring utilities to buy a portion of their power from renewable resources are coming under fire across the country, including in Kansas, which observers say came as close as any to repealing its rules this year.

Kansas lawmakers have refused to eliminate the mandate for the past three years, but the Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/1gZzoWh ) reports opponents are inching closer to repeal. Twenty-nine states have renewable energy mandates, and bills weakening or repealing them came up in at least nine states this year — including Kansas and Missouri.

Conservative groups like Americans for Prosperity and the Kansas Senior Consumer Alliance are battling for repeal because they say the mandates amount to government intrusion and are nothing more than tax increases.