Kansas City utility company Evergy agrees to lower ask on rates for suburban Kansans
After a months-long back-and-forth with state regulators over its proposal to raise rates, utility company Evergy has agreed to significantly lower its ask — at least for now — for Kansans who rely on its services in the Kansas City suburbs.
The Kansas Corporation Commission, which oversees utility rate changes, announced Friday afternoon a proposed settlement approved by the power company. It comes one month after the state commission’s staff objected to a rate increase proposed by Evergy, saying the company’s request was unjustified.
Under the new proposal, Evergy customers in the defined Kansas Metro coverage area, which includes much of Johnson and parts of Wyandotte counties, would see their monthly bills drop by $6.07 on average. The coverage area also serves customers in Douglas, Franklin, Miami, Osage, Anderson and Linn counties.
Those in the Kansas Central part of its coverage area, which reaches past Wichita but still overlaps with some parts of western Johnson County, will still see an increase — though a much smaller one. The average hike is expected to be $4.64 per month for customers there, which was initially projected to go as high as $14.24 per month.
The settlement agreement still requires final approval by the KCC, a three-member panel appointed by the governor. A hearing on the matter is scheduled to take place in Topeka on Oct. 9 as the commission faces a late December deadline to render its decision.
Evergy was projected to see a $218 million net increase to its revenues through the rate changes. It now stands to see a net increase of $41 million, according to KCC, though the settlement agreement leaves the door open for Evergy to seek rate increases again in the near future.
Under the settlement, the parties also agreed that Evergy should be permitted to petition for another rate increase next year, as the utility has said those may be needed to accommodate Panasonic’s new battery plant in De Soto.
In its initial rate-increase request, Evergy had said the company wanted to make adjustments to accommodate the power load for the plant. Evergy had argued that the demand, which would double that of its largest customer, would require two new substations, upgrades to three current substations and work on 31 miles of transmission lines.
In testimony, KCC staff did not recommend approval for the abbreviated case, citing uncertainty around the Panasonic project.
In a statement Friday, Evergy CEO David Campbell called the settlement “a very strong result for our customers.”
“As a result of this settlement, average retail rates in Kansas will have increased just one percent, cumulatively, since 2017,” Campbell said. “And Evergy will recover investments made to improve the electric grid and build a cleaner, more reliable energy future for our Kansas customers, all while improving our record of regional rate competitiveness.”
The Star’s Katie Bernard, Natalie Wallington and Jonathan Shorman contributed to this report.
This story was originally published September 29, 2023 at 8:52 PM.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story included an incorrect figure for the average monthly bill increase that was initially proposed to customers in Evergy’s Kansas Central coverage area. The correct figure is $14.24 per month. The story also incorrectly described Evergy’s position on a $218 million net revenue increase. The company was in favor of that increase. The story also incorrectly described opposition to a proposed rate increase by Evergy. The increase was opposed by Kansas Corporation Commission staff.
