Evergy filed a request on Feb. 2, 2024 with the Missouri Public Service Commission to recover investments made to support generation capacity and improve the grid in order to provide reliable power. The result of this filing will take affect January 1, 2025.
Evergy’s request included investments related to power resources that will help ensure Evergy Missouri West has sufficient generation capacity for customers and to reduce Missouri West’s exposure to market price volatility for electricity purchased from the market.
Reliability improvements included:
- Replacing aging infrastructure
- Improving the ability to withstand more severe weather
- Adding technologies that better outage performance and improve our predictive maintenance capabilities
- Creating more power (or generation capacity) for customers, which also helps us...
- Reduce exposure to big swings in pricing for electricity purchased from the market
- This includes the cost to purchase Dogwood Energy Center to meet the growing needs of Missouri West customers
"We are investing strategically to ensure customers have reliable, affordable energy,” said Evergy President and Chief Executive Officer David Campbell. “Our focus continues to be on more efficiently running the business, which despite this period of record inflation has resulted in a reduced increase ask for our customers. While most area states have seen electricity costs increase about 11% over the past six years, Evergy’s prices have remained regionally competitive and even declined in some areas."
| Key Asset Types |
Average Age |
Expected Life (Years) |
| Overhead Conductors | 37 | 30 |
| Underground Conductors | 28 | 30 |
| Poles | 37 | 40-45 |
| Line Transformers | 33 | 20 |
| Pad-mounted Transformers | 33 | 20 |
Where and what is changing?
Base rates for Evergy Missouri West customers will increase by just under 7% (roughly $8 a month for average residential customers). The prices customers pay for electric service are calculated based on actual costs the company incurred and investments the company has made.
To justify this price increase, Evergy was required to show the costs were warranted and prudent.
The Evergy Missouri West service area serves more than 340,000 customers and includes St. Joseph, Liberty, Platte City, Harrisonville, and Warrensburg, among other cities. The majority of the Kansas City Metropolitan region is not in the Missouri West service area. Most Kansas City Metropolitan customers are in the Missouri Metro service area. Evergy did not ask for any changes to base rates in its Missouri Metro service area.
When will changes go into effect?
New rates will become effective on January 1, 2025.This follows an 11-month process where regulators and interveners reviewed, audited and evaluated the request to ensure the resulting prices reflect the actual cost of serving Evergy Missouri West customers. The process also included public hearings.
1) Regional state data is sourced from EIA and is comprised of revenues and sales for all sectors, with 2024 data uses rolling twelve-month average of total revenues and sales ending March 2024. EIA data is preliminary that is subject to change, with 2023 data to be finalized in October 2024. 2) Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics for historic CPI-U and uses rolling twelve-month average ending November 2023. 3) The corresponding change in total rates for Evergy MO Metro and Evergy MO West were -2.1% and 8.5%, respectively. 4) Evergy pro forma data uses rolling twelve-month average of total revenues and sales ending March 2023 and includes adjustments for the annualized impacts of: ACA/RECA (implemented April 1, 2023). TDC (implemented May 1, 2023); Kansas Income Tax reductions; and Property Tax Surcharge update; outcomes of rate case settlement in docket 23-EKCE-775-RTS. Evergy data is sourced from FERC Form 1 pg. 304 and general ledger and inclusive of customer bill credits. The corresponding change in total rates for Evergy KS Central and Evergy KS Metro were 4.9% and -9.5%, respectively.
