Kansas Gives Green Light to Evergy’s New Gas and Solar Plants

TOPEKA — Kansas regulators have approved Evergy’s plan to construct two natural gas plants and a new solar facility, despite pushback from ratepayer advocates and environmental groups worried about higher utility bills.

Customers of Evergy Kansas Central could see an average bill increase of about 8.6% as a result, according to filings with the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC).

Evergy Kansas Central, a subsidiary of Evergy Inc., will co-own the two 710-megawatt combined cycle gas turbine plants with Evergy Missouri West — pending Missouri Public Service Commission approval — and fully own the Kansas Sky solar facility in Douglas County. The Viola gas plant will be built in Sumner County, while the McNew gas plant will rise in Reno County. The solar field is projected to cost $228.1 million, while the Viola and McNew plants carry price tags of roughly $789 million and $800 million respectively.

“This is money from Kansas customers,” said Commissioner Dwight Keen at Monday’s virtual hearing. “The commission is concerned and troubled by the frequency and magnitude of rate cases, and strongly encourages Evergy to focus on pacing its proposed investments to better align those investments with actual load growth and the mitigation of large rate increases.”

Evergy’s plan uses a new legislative mechanism, the Construction Work-In-Progress (CWIP) rate tool, to start collecting project costs from customers while construction is underway — a change from the usual practice of waiting until projects are complete.

Opponents argued the new gas plants are unnecessary if current coal plants aren’t retired early. “Evergy’s plans to retire coal facilities early... is simply trading low-cost generation for high-cost generation to serve the same level of demand,” said Jim Zakoura, president of the Kansas Industrial Consumers Group. “Retail ratepayers get no greater value for their money — only higher prices.”

Others expressed concern about the risks of volatile gas prices. “I am really worried that we are going to push ourselves into a really risky position with fossil fuels,” said Dorothy Barnett, Climate + Energy Project executive director.

Despite the opposition, Evergy maintains the projects are critical for meeting future demand. “Kansas and Missouri are experiencing record economic growth, and today’s predetermination order affirms that the plants are needed to serve customers and are an efficient way to meet the growing demand,” Evergy spokesperson Gina Penzig said.

With this approval, Evergy’s next steps hinge on Missouri regulators signing off on the shared ownership of the gas plants. The outcome could shape energy bills for thousands of customers across state lines. Environmental groups say they will keep pushing for more renewable energy options to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and protect customers from unpredictable fuel price spikes.

Construction timelines for the projects have not been finalized, but Evergy’s filings suggest the Viola plant could come online by 2029, just as older coal units like the Jeffrey Energy Center age out.

Originally reported by Morgan Chilson in Kansas Reflector.