<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/5/1620231284103.png" alt=" Lawrence Energy Center Brian Grimmett / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption> Lawrence Energy Center Brian Grimmett / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>By BRIAN GRIMMETT <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/post/evergy-plans-major-coal-shutdowns-environmental-groups-say-its-not-fast-enough">Kansas News Service</a>Scientists say that if we’re going to stop rising global 
temperatures, the world will need to greatly reduce the amount of carbon
 it’s emitting into the air.Electricity production is one of the
 largest culprits and transitioning away from fossil fuels is seen as a 
key step in stopping climate change.Under mounting pressure to ditch fossil fuels and amid shifting economics that make coal increasingly less competitive, the<a href="https://newsroom.evergy.com/2021-04-30-Evergy-Sets-Goal-for-Net-Zero-Carbon-Emissions-by-2045,-Interim-Carbon-Reduction-Target-of-70-percent-by-2030" target="_blank"> largest utility in Kansas pledges to close nearly all of its coal-burning plants</a> in the next 20 years.In the meantime, it’s moving to harvest more energy from the wind and the sun.Environmental groups remain unimpressed. They say Evergy could abandon coal for renewable energy far more quickly.The update comes from the latest <a href="https://www.efis.psc.mo.gov/mpsc/commoncomponents/view_itemno_details.asp?caseno=EO-2021-0035&amp;attach_id=2021018545" target="_blank">long-term planning document</a>
 Evergy is required to file with state regulators in Missouri. Kansas 
regulators are also asking for a state-specific plan for the first time.
 That’s not due for another month.“We are ahead of the national 
average and ahead of most utilities in the amount of carbon reduction 
that we’ll be able to do,” Evergy spokesman Chuck Caisley said.The
 plan calls for retiring about 20% of its coal power generating capacity
 in the next ten years. Evergy would retire its last three coal plants 
in 2039.The first plant scheduled for retirement is Lawrence 
Energy Center in 2023. A plant near St. Joseph, Missouri would close in 
2024, followed by a unit north of Topeka in 2030 and a unit near La 
Cygne, Kansas in 2032.“That falls way short of what’s needed in 
order to stop the climate crisis,” said Andy Knott, a deputy regional 
director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign.But Caisley 
said Evergy can’t shift to renewable energy until it has the capacity to
 generate enough electricity to replace it. And even though it’ll keep 
some coal-burning plants open until 2039, they likely won’t be operating
 at full capacity. Instead, they’ll be run seasonally to meet peak 
demands.The plan would reduce Evergy’s carbon emissions by 70% 
from 2005 levels by 2030. The Biden administration would like to see the
 electricity generation sector have net-zero emissions by 2035. Evergy’s
 current plan wouldn’t get there until 2045.Beto Lugo is the executive director of <a href="http://cankc.org/about-us/" target="_blank">Clean Air Now</a>,
 an environmental justice organization in Kansas City. He said the 
closure of the coal plants is a big win for communities of color that 
are often more impacted by pollution than other groups.“That’s 
why the communities need to be a part of those discussions,” he said. 
“They need to be at the table guiding a lot of these projects.”Lugo said it’s particularly important that those communities benefit in some way from the renewable energy projects planned.Evergy
 says it plans to build 3,200 megawatts of renewable energy in the next 
decade, nearly doubling its renewable capacity. Most of the new 
development will be in large-scale solar energy farms. The first project
 would be completed as early as 2023.The Sierra Club’s Knott and
 other environmental advocates also worry that the plan calls for 
potentially building several new natural gas power plants after 2035. 
They would provide always-ready power to replace some of the lost coal. 
(Wind and solar lack the on-demand convenience of coal and gas.) While 
natural gas releases fewer carbon emissions than coal, it’s still a 
fossil fuel built on a supply chain that emits large amounts of 
greenhouse gases.“Building new gas would continue the climate disaster,” Knott said. “That is not the right direction to go.”But
 Caisley said the analysis for the plan was done using today’s 
technology at today’s prices. He said the further the plan gets into the
 future, changes are nearly inevitable.“Our hope is that over 
that time period the technology exists in order to not have to make an 
investment in carbon,” he said. “But we’re not there yet.”The plan was also made without considering <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/post/utilities-just-got-new-financial-tool-could-speed-end-coal-plants-kansas" target="_blank">newly approved financial tools</a> that would make it easier and more financially appealing for Evergy to retire older coal plants earlier than expected.Ashok
 Gupta is an energy economist with the National Resource Defense 
Council. He said the plan is definitely a step in the right direction, 
but it needs to do more of what is proposed, and quicker.He said the new financial tool will play a key role in making that happen.“This is not the end of the process,” Gupta said. “And we expect a lot to change even in the annual update by next year.”Brian
 Grimmett reports on the environment, energy and natural resources for 
KMUW in Wichita and the Kansas News Service. You can follow him on 
Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/briangrimmett?lang=en">@briangrimmett</a> or email him at grimmett@kmuw.org.

Evergy coal shutdowns; environmental groups say it's not fast enough