Kansas passes new energy rules for data centers, other big consumers
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The Kansas Corporation Commission last week approved energy regulations meant to attract big electricity users while protecting existing customers.
Why it matters: The unanimous decision charts a path for how new high-energy facilities like data centers can come to the Sunflower State while protecting residents and other businesses from shouldering the cost.
The big picture: These facilities will be under a plan with a lower energy rate than the previous plan for the largest energy users, while bearing a larger share of demand and grid costs and agreeing to long-term contracts.
What's inside: Businesses requiring 75MW or more — about 1,500 times that of a typical household — will sign an energy contract for 12 to 17 years with steep early termination fees.
- In exchange for long-term stable rates at a competitive price, these businesses will pay for new power lines, transformers and substations.
- Evergy plans to recoup the cost of new plants with the money that will come from large consumers.
- Companies get further deals if they help generate their own power or pay to build clean energy resources.
Context: The tariff plan was first agreed upon by Evergy and over a dozen companies, advocacy groups and community stakeholders — including Google, Spirit AeroSystems, several KC metro schools, and the Sierra Club.
What they're saying: "This is a good deal. It protects customers, but also importantly, it provides a pathway for economic development," KCC chair Andrew French said during the vote. For large-load customers, "if they're willing to pay their fair share, they can come to Kansas."
- "This settlement ensures that large energy users share responsibility for the infrastructure they require while also creating new opportunities to move the grid toward clean, renewable energy," Sarah Rubenstein, with Great Rivers Environmental Law Center — which represented the Sierra Club — said in a statement.
Yes, but: Missouri regulators considering their own large customer energy tariffs pushed back on the terms, stating in a brief filed on Nov. 5 that the agreement would "subsidize" big energy users and "grossly overstated the total level of protection" for legacy customers.
- Google, in a reply, called the stance "alarmist" and the regulators' legal analysis "flawed."
What's next: The Missouri Public Service Commission is scheduled to make its decision today at 11am.
Go deeper:
- Kansas could get next-gen nuclear power
- Data centers could cut your electric bill, Evergy says
- Old Kansas City Star building could power AI future
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that new large load facilities will be under an Evergy plan that lowers energy (not Evergy) rates for the largest users but raises their other costs.