In a filing to the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC), Evergy is asking for an electric rate increase of $196.4 million for its central service area, after negotiating a $74 million hike in September, 2023.
First reported in The Sunflower State Journal, the company’s requested increase would affect some 735,000 customers in the eastern third of the state; from Wichita to Pittsburg and Lawrence to Leavenworth.
In its filing, Evergy was quick to disassociate the rate increase from the emerging Panasonic battery plant in DeSoto, proposed natural gas plants in Sumner and Reno Counties, and a solar facility under construction near Lawrence:
To be clear, investments related to the Panasonic plant in De Soto, Kansas, and the proposed natural gas generating units and solar facility actively sought in EKC’s pending predetermination proceeding are not costs that are going into rates in this case.
The investments include technology upgrades and grid improvements to replace aging equipment and create a more resilient power grid that is more reliable and efficient for customers, the company said in its application to the KCC.
The company added grid investments were focused on outage prevention and response, including automation and sensor technology used to better identify outages and isolate outages to fewer customers.
In a news release, Evergy President and CEO David Campbell noted his company’s economic development efforts partnering with the State of Kansas while he defended the rate increase:
“Our region – our nation – is experiencing historic load growth. We will ask the Commission to support pricing and policies that position Evergy, and by extension Kansas, to compete to attract large new customers and accelerate economic growth,” said Campbell. “We’ve made solid progress and have competitive rates today in Kansas, and we are focused on ensuring that large commercial and industrial customers pay their share for energy costs in order for us to maintain our competitive rates for all Evergy customers.”
