Kansas and Missouri power provider Evergy is planning to build a power transmission line across the land of hundreds of Kansas landowners to send electricity to Oklahoma and Missouri.
A report from the Topeka Capital Journal indicated the line will start near Wichita at a major connection point for wind generated power and stretch 133 miles across southern and southeastern Kansas crossing the border into Oklahoma.
The newspaper reported the project is known in SPP documents as the Branson 345 kV overlay projects. It consists of three parts with a total cost of nearly $1 billion. It starts with an approximately 155-mile line from the Buffalo Flats substation in Kansas, to Delaware, Oklahoma. In a January 2025 report, the SSP estimated a $484 million cost for that part.
Hearings will be held by the Kansas Corporation Commission while the Southwest Power Pool has intervened in the case.
“SPP is the most appropriate party to provide information to the Commission demonstrating the need for and the benefit of the Project,” attorneys for the SPP said in a KCC filing, according to the report.
In Kansas, the line will cross Sedgwick, Sumner, Cowley and Chautauqua counties. A published report indicated the power line is primarily intended to benefit southwest Missouri, but electricity customers in Kansas will help foot the bill for the $493 million transmission line.
Evergy Kansas Central, based in Topeka and a subsidiary of electric utility monopoly Evergy, filed the request with the KCC in November for a siting permit to construct the 345-kilovolt transmission line. The Kansas portion of the line is described as being part of a bigger multistate project from the SPP, the regional grid of which includes Oklahoma in its 14-state region. serves all or part of 14 states.
“The proposed line will address thermal and voltage issues identified by SPP,” Evergy said in its application, reported the Topeka Capital Journal.
“The line connects to central Kansas at a major wind power interconnection point and will create a completed pathway toward the areas impacted by Winter Storm Elliot to mitigate west-to-east congestion, improve voltage support, and allow increased market access which will reduce market prices.
Hearings will be held this week by the KCC, one in Sedan on Jan. 7 and another in Winfield on Jan. 8. An evidentiary hearing in Topeka was scheduled for March 11-12 along with a May 13 due date for the commission’s order. The second part is an approximately 115-mile line from Delaware to Monnett, Missouri, with an estimated cost of $343 million. The third part is an approximately 47-mile line from Monnett to Branson, with an estimated cost of $166 million, according to the published report.