Pratt County hears Evergy plan for two natural-gas plants; Sawyer faces gas-service reliability risk

Speaker 4 told the Pratt County Commission that Evergy has filed plans with the Kansas Corporation Commission to build two new natural-gas power plants — one in Sumner County and one in Reno County — and that the projects would be the first new Kansas plants built since Wolf Creek.

The official said the Reno County plant could create more than 500 construction jobs, while the other site could add about 40–50 positions paying over $90,000. ‘‘They hope to have it online, operational by 2030,’’ Speaker 4 said, noting the projects must clear regulatory reviews by the KCC and, for the Sumner County plant, the Missouri corporation commission.

Why it matters: The projects could shift regional generation capacity and local economic activity. The commission was also told the distribution of the power is only partly committed: Speaker 4 said half of the Reno County plant’s output is expected to serve Kansas, while the remainder was described in the transcript as currently ‘‘unobligated.’’

Speaker 4 also updated the board on a separate, more immediate concern: the City of Sawyer’s local gas supply. According to the transcript, Sawyer recently received a Kansas Corporation Commission letter that the other two communities in the joint project did not receive. Speaker 4 described the city’s supply as coming from an ‘‘untreated gas field’’ whose depletion is making gas quality and reliability increasingly variable. ‘‘We are not ready for plan B yet, but it is getting a little dicey,’’ Speaker 4 said. The speaker said staff have been coordinating with Representative Hoffman, the KCC, the Kansas Municipal Utilities Association and municipal leaders, and will draft a response for Sawyer’s mayor to submit by Friday.

Speaker 4 described the next steps required by statute and project agreement: the three communities plan to issue a single request for proposals for the required rate study, with a roughly 30-day response window; after rate-study vendors are selected, a construction RFP would follow.

The commission was also told about unrelated economic-development support: the state Commerce Department has opened another round of HEAL grants (1:1 match up to $75,000) for downtown building rehabilitation, with a closing date listed in the transcript as Jan. 31 and decisions expected about 60 days after the close. Speaker 4 identified a downtown property (referred to in the record as the Woody’s/Wood East Building) as a candidate for the grant and said county staff will assist the owner with the application.

Next steps: staff will file the response to the KCC letter by the end of the week and proceed with the rate-study RFP process; the Evergy filings and HEAL grant applications remain subject to external approvals and competitive selection.