Start here: data centers and Kansas home electric bills
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~3 GWlarge loads signed by Evergy (KS + MO)
$1.59BKansas Central share of two new gas plants
$228MKansas Sky solar, Douglas County
$2-$8per month, construction rider for a typical home (estimate)
$123average monthly home bill, 2024
80%minimum bill for large loads, of contracted demand
- Large new loads are arriving fast. Evergy says it has signed contracts for about 3 GW of large customers (five data-center agreements totalling about 2.5 GW, plus about 0.5 GW of others such as Panasonic), with 2-2.5 GW of expansions and 1-2 GW more in advanced talks, mostly after 2030 [8][9]. Its whole fleet today is about 15.8 GW [9]. These are company-wide figures for Kansas and Missouri; Evergy does not break them out for Kansas Central, which serves Lawrence.
- Two new gas plants are being built for Kansas Central. Regulators approved Kansas Central's half-share of two 710 MW gas plants, about $1.59 billion ($788.75M for Viola, now named Chisholm Trail, and $800.52M for McNew), plus a $228.1M solar farm in Douglas County (Kansas Sky) [2]. Construction of Chisholm Trail began May 12, 2026 [7].
- Rules for data centers. Since November 2025, new customers of 75 MW or more pay under a Large Load Power Service tariff: contracts of at least 12 years (17 with ramp-up), a minimum bill of 80% of contracted demand whether used or not, collateral of two years of minimum bills, exit fees, and direct assignment of upgrades built only for them [1]. Transmission network upgrades are allocated by the regional grid operator (SPP) under federal (FERC) rules, not by the state [1].
- What homes pay first: the construction rider. A 2024 state law lets Evergy charge customers a return on the gas plants while they are built, starting no sooner than 365 days after construction begins [6]. Using the 8.45% pre-tax return and the 45.37% residential share set in the 2025 rate case [4], that adds roughly $2-$4 a month to a typical home while Chisholm Trail is built, and up to about $7.90 a month if both plants are fully built before entering service (our estimate).
- After the plants run, who pays depends on whether large-load revenue covers them. If the large-load tariff works as designed, homes pay none of the new plants' fixed cost. If existing customers end up carrying a quarter, half or all of it, a typical home would pay roughly $2-$3, $4-$6 or $8-$12 a month more (illustrative range, fixed costs only).
- For context, the average Kansas Central home paid about $123 a month in 2024 (14.3 cents per kWh) [11], and the October 2025 rate increase added about $8.47 a month [3].