Evergy has filed a request with the Kansas Corporation Commission for a proposed rate increase of almost ten percent.
The utility is requesting a net revenue increase of $204 million or a 9.77 percent overall rate increase for its Evergy Kansas Central service area. The request reflects a reduction of nearly $89 million in operating costs. If the full request is approved, the average monthly bill for a residential customer would be about $14.24. Evergy Kansas Central includes the communities of Wichita, Topeka, Pittsburg, Hutchinson and other communities in the eastern third of the state.
The request for the Evergy Kansas Metro area, which would include Lenexa, Overland Park and the Kansas City Metro area, would be for $14 million or a 1.95 percent overall rate increase. That would be an average increase of $3.47 a month for customers in the Metro area.
Evergy is asking for the increase to recover investments made to improve service to customers with a more reliable and resilient power grid and updated customer service systems. The company said this is the first rate review it has requested since the company was formed in 2018 with the merger of Westar Energy and Great Plains Energy.
