Another utility rate hike is in the works in Kansas after the Corporation Commission approved this week $1.8 billion in two new natural gas plants and a new solar plant proposed by Evergy Kansas.
The utility plans to build a new gas plant in Viola, located in Sumner County and a McNew gas plant near Hutchinson in Reno County. Estimated cost? Nearly $789 million for the Viola plant and $800 miillion for the Reno County plant.
The Kansas Sky solar facility, to be built in Douglas County, has a price tag of more than $228 million. And who will pay for the projects? Yes, consumers. And it had the attention of one regulator.
“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,” said Commissioner Dwight Keen at Monday’s virtual hearing reported the Kansas Reflector.
But the growth of data centers and what it means for consumers also was raised by the Sierra Club.
“Governor Kelly and KCC Commissioners supported and approved these gas plants, and now they have the opportunity to ensure that utilities and data centers pay their fair share, because the alleged new demand for electricity is from data centers, not Kansas families or existing businesses,” said Zack Pistora, director of the Kansas chapter.
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