Staff report TSnews

Power company Evergy, Inc., broke ground last week on a new plant in Sumner County.

It is one of two new 705 megawatt combined-cycle natural gas plants that the company is going to build in Kansas. The other will be built near South Hutchinson. The plants were announced in October 2024. The Viola plant is slated to come online by Jan. 1, 2029, and the Reno County one is targeted to start operating a year later.

“High-efficiency modern natural gas plants will meet the electricity needs for our region’s growing economy. These plants also will bring good paying jobs and tax dollars to Kansas,” said David Campbell, Evergy chairman, president and chief executive officer, when the plants were announced last year. “Dispatchable natural gas is an important resource within Evergy’s growing and diverse energy portfolio, complementing our planned investment in wind and solar resources and supporting our commitment to affordable, reliable and sustainable electricity.”

Evergy says the plants are expected to created 20 to 40 skilled craft jobs that pay more than $90,000 annually.

In July, the Kansas Corporation Commission approved two settlement agreements to allow Every to recover the costs of these two plants and a third new generation facility.

Referred to as the Viola plant, it will be built near the Viola substation. That substation is actually south of Clearwater, located at 50th Avenue North and Milan Road.

Evergy Kansas Central and Evergy Missouri West will each have 50 percent ownership in the gas plants. The cost of construction to Evergy Kansas Central is estimated at $788.75 million for the Viola plant and $800.52 million for the McNew plant in Reno County. According to the KCC, this year’s settlement will not immediately impact rates.

The KCC settlement agreements came with something of a warning.

“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.

The Commission understands new investment is needed to support reliability and economic development in Kansas.

However, affordability must be a major priority and proactively pursued as Evergy addresses a seemingly endless list of ‘justifiable’ projects and initiatives.

To meet future capacity needs, for example, the Commission will expect Evergy to demonstrate its serious consideration of less capital-intensive options like demand response, utilization of surplus interconnection sites and grid-enhancing technologies.”

The Kansas Reflector reported in July that Evergy has a separate rate case at KCC, asking for a 15 percent hike in residential rates, which would be on top of the increase from building the plants. Evergy received a $41 million rate hike in 2023.

In July, Evergy spokeswoman Gina Penzig said in a statement the company is pleased with the KCC’s approval to help ensure system reliability.

“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,” she said.