Current Issues
2026 Legislation
Increasing electric rates are a problem for Kansas. Evergy’s electric rates are higher than its peers in the region. The status quo isn’t working. The TRUE Act can help.
Main Components of the TRUE Act:
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Eliminate annual updates to the Transmission Delivery Charge (TDC)
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Improve transparency for Southwest Power Pool (SPP) and Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) transmission-related actions
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Provide cost controls for SPP projects
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Improve transparency and awareness of KCC meetings with electric utilities and other others
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Strengthen KCC and CURB ethics standards
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Allow CURB to intervene in SPP and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issues
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Improve makeup of CURB board
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Provide energy independence options through 3rd Party Purchased Power Agreements (PPA)
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Provide a clear path for nuclear development
2025 Legislative Overview
KLER priorities for 2025 were:
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Increase competition for electric transmission lines to save money (HB 2041)
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Limit electric discounts for data centers (SB 81)
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Change regulatory rules to provide incentives to Evergy to achieve competitive rates, and penalize them if rates increase too much (HB 2032)
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Due to a shortened session, only the provisions of SB 81 passed as part of SB 98, a data center tax incentive bill.
2024 Legislative Overview
The priority for the 2024 Kansas legislative session was creating standards the KCC and utilities should use when considering closing a coal plant, or other fossil-fuel plant. Senate Bill 455 outlined those standards. In short, the premise was it shouldn't cost more to close a coal plant than to keep it open.
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Evergy filed a bill, HB 2527, to essentially reverse anything the company didn't like from its 2023 rate increase request. It was a very anti-consumer bill, taking away KCC discretion on a number of items. Here is the initial testimony opposing the bill.
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After many weeks of negotiations with Evergy, the KCC, CURB and others, we were neutral on a new version of HB 2527.
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The bill contained:
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Increased (but capped) recovery of distribution investments, a concept called plant in service accounting (PISA) for Evergy
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Allowed quicker recovery of gas plant expenditures (construction work in progress -- CWIP) for Evergy
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Eliminated customer costs for economic development rate discounts -- positive provision
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Customer-friendly improvements to the regulatory timeline for major projects -- positive provision
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Coal plant protections from SB 455
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The bill had near unanimous support and was signed by Gov. Kelly.
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