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Evergy says new large-load tariff will make data centers pay a premium and shield customers from higher rates
Summary
Evergy told the Senate Utilities Committee that a Kansas-approved large-load power service (LLPS) tariff requires 17-year commitments, substantial collateral and a 25–27% premium for data centers, which the company says will protect existing customers by funding grid costs and lowering rate-case asks.
At a Senate Utilities Committee briefing, Evergy described a newly approved Kansas tariff for large-load customers such as data centers and said the design requires long-term commitments and significant financial guarantees to limit risk to existing customers.
"If you're going to come to this state and you're going to build, you have to make a long-term commitment, a 17-year commitment," Chuck Hazley, Evergy's executive vice president for utility operations, said. He described the tariff as requiring substantial collateral and imposing a demand premium — "a 25 to 27 percent premium" relative to standard industrial rates — that Evergy would pool to lower pressure on rates for residential and existing commercial customers.
Hazley told senators the tariff also requires data centers to pay for the substations and transmission needed to serve them directly. He said the Kansas Corporation Commission and its staff "deserve a ton of credit" for confronting the large-load issue early and approving a structure that, according to Evergy, limits speculative exposures.
Senators pressed on affordability, water use and the speculative nature of data-center announcements. Hazley said most modern facilities use closed-loop cooling systems and that Evergy will apply "gates" — credit, collateral and long-term contracts — to accept only well-funded projects. He described the company’s queue as roughly 15 gigawatts of interest, with about half potentially locating in Kansas, but cautioned the company will select projects that pass financial and risk screens.
Hazley said the tariff and the premium could materially reduce rate-case requests; he estimated one Missouri filing could be reduced by "between 50 and $60 million" because of a large customer and the premium structure, though he said details of filings were not yet public.
Committee members did not vote on regulatory matters during the briefing. The chair closed the session and said the committee would resume business the following day.
