The Kansas Corporation Commission this week approved two settlement agreements allowing Evergy Kansas Central to recover costs for three new power generation facilities, including two gas plants and a utility-scale solar farm aimed at meeting rising electric demand and improving grid reliability.
The utility’s plan generated significant interest after its application was filed in November. Thirty-one parties formally intervened in the case alongside Evergy and KCC staff.
The Commission unanimously approved the agreement covering the new solar project, called Kansas Sky, which will be located in Douglas County and fully owned by Evergy Kansas Central. Construction costs for the facility are estimated at $228.1 million. Regulators said the project will help diversify the state’s energy mix, which remains largely reliant on wind and fossil fuels.
“Very little utility-scale solar generation has been successfully developed in Kansas so far, and solar can complement the region’s existing resources,” the Commission wrote in its order.
A separate non-unanimous settlement agreement covering the gas plants was also approved. Under the plan, Evergy will build two combined cycle gas turbine plants totaling 1,420 megawatts of capacity — one near Viola in Sumner County and the other in Reno County. Evergy Kansas Central and Evergy Missouri West will share 50% ownership of the gas plants, with Evergy Kansas Central’s estimated share totaling more than $1.5 billion.
Construction on the Viola plant is expected to be completed by January 2029, while the Reno County facility is projected to come online by January 2030.
The Commission said the gas plants are a “reliable plan” to expand generation capacity and include safeguards to protect customers from potential cost overruns.
Thursday’s order noted that rates will not increase immediately, except for a rider authorized by the Legislature that allows Evergy to recover some construction costs after work begins. Other costs must go through future rate cases.
However, the Commission signaled frustration over the frequency of Evergy’s rate hike requests.
“The Commission is troubled by the frequency and magnitude of rate cases and strongly encourages Evergy to focus on pacing investment to better align with load growth and mitigate large rate increases,” regulators wrote.
While acknowledging that new generation is needed for reliability and economic growth, the Commission said it expects Evergy to seriously evaluate less costly alternatives, including demand response programs, grid upgrades and surplus interconnection sites.