KS — Power Infrastructure Updated 2026-07-17

Kansas

SPP Natural Gas Solar Data Center PPAs Queue Bottlenecks Transmission Constraints

1) Grid operator and market structure

  • RTO/ISO / balancing authority: Most utility-scale electric planning in Kansas is tied to the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), which operates the regional transmission organization and wholesale market across a multi-state footprint that includes Kansas. Southwest Power Pool, 2026-06-10
  • Retail structure: Kansas remains a regulated retail electricity state; state law gives the Kansas Corporation Commission authority to supervise and control electric public utilities. Kansas Revisor of Statutes, 2025
  • Primary data-center utility context: Evergy Kansas Central and Evergy Kansas Metro are the utilities most directly implicated by the largest Kansas data-center proposals in the Kansas City, De Soto, Edgerton, and Osawatomie corridors. Western and central Kansas proposals also depend on SPP transmission, local distribution utilities, and county/city service-availability review. Evergy, 2026-05-07 Finney County, 2026-04-20

2) Interconnection queue (status, depth, wait times, reforms)

  • Queue depth (SPP): SPP’s GI Active Requests listing was updated June 4, 2026 and showed 963 active generation interconnection requests across the SPP footprint totaling about 188.9 GW of requested capacity; Kansas-sited projects accounted for 171 active requests totaling about 36.9 GW. Author calculation from SPP’s GI Active Requests download. SPP Operations Portal, 2026-06-04
  • Kansas queue composition: Kansas-sited active generation requests as of the June 4, 2026 SPP listing included 60 projects with fully executed interconnection agreements or commercial operation status, 58 on schedule, 18 in DISIS, and 10 interconnection-agreement pending. The balance included 9 in ERAS, 7 in special study, 5 in facility study, and 4 in suspension. Author calculation from SPP’s GI Active Requests download. SPP Operations Portal, 2026-06-04
  • Generation queue vs. load interconnection: SPP’s GI list is a generation-interconnection queue, not a data-center load queue; data-center loads normally proceed through utility service requests, retail tariffs, local utility infrastructure agreements, and any SPP transmission/load-impact processes that apply. SPP Operations Portal, 2026-06-04 Kansas Corporation Commission, 2025-11-06
  • Large-load integration process: SPP’s High Impact Large Load (HILL) framework coordinates transmission service, delivery-point studies, and associated generation review for large loads. SPP’s July 2 materials continued implementation work on HILL, Conditional High Impact Large Load Service (CHILLS), and the High Impact Large Load Generation Assessment (HILLGA). Southwest Power Pool, 2026-07-02
  • CHILLS conditional transmission service approved and in compliance phase: FERC conditionally approved CHILLS on June 5, allowing non-firm transmission service using available capacity for up to seven years while a high-impact large load obtains firm service, subject to curtailment during constraints or emergencies. SPP filed the required tariff compliance revisions on July 6 in Docket ER26-1323-002. FERC eLibrary accession 20260605-3090, 2026-06-05 Southwest Power Pool, 2026-07-06
  • Queue reform / planning transition: SPP reported in September 2025 that it had reached a milestone in clearing the generator-interconnection backlog and intended to transition to its Consolidated Planning Process, subject to FERC approval, after processing more than 1,650 projects and 340 GW through cluster studies since 2022. Southwest Power Pool, 2025-09-10
  • Federal large-load proceedings: After its April inquiry, FERC opened an SPP-specific Federal Power Act section 206 show-cause proceeding on June 18 concerning large-load transmission analysis, wholesale cost shifting, co-location rules, and possible tariff reforms. The proceeding could change SPP rules beyond the HILL/CHILLS filings. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 2026-04-17 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 2026-06-18

3) Ratepayer protection (large-load tariffs, cost allocation, dockets)

  • Large Load Power Service (LLPS) docket: KCC approved a modified Evergy LLPS tariff in Docket 25-EKME-315-TAR for customers with load of 75 MW or more. Kansas Corporation Commission, 2025-11-06
  • Minimum commitment: LLPS customers must commit to a minimum 12-year service period after any construction/ramp-up period of up to five years. Kansas Corporation Commission, 2025-11-06
  • Minimum bill: LLPS customers must pay for the power reserved whether or not they use it, with a monthly minimum bill based on 80% of contracted demand. Kansas Corporation Commission, 2025-11-06
  • Load reductions and exit risk: The KCC tariff limits large-load reductions and imposes penalties for reductions, which is intended to reduce stranded-cost risk for existing customers if a data center underuses or exits service. Kansas Corporation Commission, 2025-11-06
  • Collateral and infrastructure responsibility: Commerce’s March 2026 legislative fact sheet summarized the Kansas framework as requiring collateral equal to roughly two years of minimum-bill obligations and making large-load customers responsible for transmission or other infrastructure upgrades required to serve the facility. Kansas Department of Commerce, 2026-03
  • No economic-development power discount. Kansas law bars data centers from receiving the economic-development electricity-rate discount authorized by K.S.A. 66-101j. Kansas Revisor of Statutes, 2025
  • SB 92 large-load/parallel-generation update: SB 92 was signed in 2026 and extended provisions affecting new or expanded 34.5 kV-or-higher industrial, commercial, and data-center customers. It allows utilities not to offer parallel-generation service to covered facilities and excludes certain new or expanded large-load demand from utility peak-demand calculations used for aggregate export capacity through July 1, 2027. Kansas Legislature, 2026-06-10 Kansas Legislature Conference Committee Report for SB 92, 2026-04-29
  • No superseding Kansas large-load rate order. The November 2025 LLPS settlement remained the controlling Kansas tariff framework through July 17, 2026; the KCC’s 2026 utility summary continued to describe the 75 MW threshold, long-term minimum-bill terms, and customer-cost protections without identifying a replacement special rate class. Kansas Corporation Commission, 2026-01-15

4) Generation adequacy (projects + adequacy concerns)

  • Evergy generation additions under KCC review/approval: KCC approved settlement agreements in 2025 allowing Evergy Kansas Central to recover costs for two Kansas combined-cycle gas plants and the Kansas Sky solar facility. The KCC described the facilities as intended to meet increasing electric demand and improve reliability. Kansas Sky was estimated at $228.1 million, and the gas plants were expected in 2029 and 2030. Kansas Corporation Commission, 2025-07-07
  • Gas plant scale and timing: Evergy’s announcement described two new 705 MW combined-cycle gas plants in Kansas, one in Sumner County expected in 2029 and one in Reno County expected in 2030. Evergy, 2024-10-21
  • 2026 large-customer load signal: Evergy’s May 7, 2026 earnings release announced a fifth large-customer electric service agreement, including a large customer project in Kansas Central territory that will take service under the LLPS tariff beginning in 2027. Evergy, 2026-05-07
  • Data-center load already affecting results: Evergy’s Q1 2026 earnings-call transcript stated that the start-up of a large data center in March, ahead of plan, contributed to first-quarter large-customer/load results alongside Panasonic. Evergy/LSEG Transcript, 2026-05-07
  • Risk framing: Evergy’s Q1 2026 release identifies projected rapid growth in electricity demand driven primarily by data centers and other large-load customers as a risk requiring new generation and transmission investments, capital access, revenue recovery, and customer-affordability management. Evergy, 2026-05-07
  • Digital Realty service agreement adds a two-gigawatt planning signal: Digital Realty disclosed that its De Soto Astra site has an energy-service agreement for 600 MW by early 2028, increasing to 2 GW at full delivery. That single disclosed agreement is larger than either of Evergy’s planned 705 MW gas units and makes the timing of generation and transmission additions a material execution issue. Digital Realty SEC exhibit, 2026-06-22 Evergy, 2024-10-21

5) Utility load forecasts (data centers in planning and service agreements)

  • LLPS as the Kansas planning gate: The LLPS tariff is the main Kansas-specific mechanism for moving very large data-center loads from speculative pipeline to committed service obligations, because it requires long-term contracted demand, minimum bills, and penalties that can be reflected in utility planning. Kansas Corporation Commission, 2025-11-06
  • De Soto / Beale load treatment: De Soto states that the enlarged Beale/Mount Sunflower project must use Kansas’s LLPS rate plan and pay for electric infrastructure upgrades required to serve it. Construction began in April, and the campus plan increased to nearly 2.9 million square feet, but no revised campus-MW figure was publicly stated in the July project update. City of De Soto, 2026-07-17 KCUR, 2026-07-09
  • De Soto / Digital Realty load: Digital Realty’s 600 MW by early 2028 / 2 GW at full delivery energy-service agreement moves Astra beyond a purely speculative utility inquiry, although phased construction still requires local review and delivery depends on infrastructure planning. Digital Realty SEC exhibit, 2026-06-22 City of De Soto, 2026-07-17
  • Wyandotte County / KCK load proposals: Red Wolf’s proposed campus was described as six 100 MW units, but June reporting said litigation had stalled it and cast doubt on whether the eventual project would use the full 600 MW. PowerTransitions’ separate reuse of the former Quindaro plant contemplated about 192-200 MW; both would be served in the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities context rather than under Evergy’s LLPS tariff. PowerTransitions, 2025-07-17 Kansas City Star, 2026-06-08
  • Osawatomie / Project Catalyst load remains contingent: Project Catalyst is proposed at 500+ MW, but as of July 9 the city and developer were still working toward an Evergy franchise agreement and a KCC service-territory transfer. The project website states that nothing has been approved; its commitment to fund new transmission, substations, and required generation therefore remains prospective. Project Catalyst, 2026-07-17 Osawatomie City Council, 2026-07-09
  • Project Bluestem load: The proposed Leavenworth County campus is described as at least 600 MW, but it remained subject to the county moratorium and later siting and utility review rather than an approved interconnection. Kansas City Star, 2026-07-02
  • Smaller projects below the LLPS threshold: Parsons granted a land-purchase option for a proposed 20 MW HyperDataGrid facility, while Iola’s Vine Energy project was reported at 3 MW. Individually, both are below Evergy LLPS’s 75 MW threshold, though their utility arrangements and local infrastructure reviews remain project-specific. Data Center Dynamics, 2026-07-09 Data Center Dynamics, 2026-06-05
  • Finney County service-availability requirements, but no filed data-center load: Finney County’s SUP attachment requires a utility “will serve” confirmation and information about possible SPP HILL review. The June record concerned a concept only: no data-center application had been filed, so Triple Oak’s separate 400 MW solar and battery approvals should not be counted as an approved data-center interconnection. Finney County, 2026-04-20 Greater Garden City, 2026-06-03 KCUR, 2026-06-09

6) Behind-the-meter / co-location / direct PPAs

  • SB 92 limits parallel-generation obligations for certain large loads. The provision applies to new or expanded facilities at 34.5 kV or higher that commence service on or after July 1, 2025. SB 92 extends through July 1, 2027 the period during which utilities are not required to offer parallel-generation service to covered customers, including data centers. Kansas Legislature Conference Committee Report for SB 92, 2026-04-29
  • Co-located and project-funded infrastructure remains project-specific. Kansas project materials frame co-located generation, new transmission, substation upgrades, and grid-service arrangements as site-specific commitments to be reviewed through utility service, local permitting, and SPP processes rather than as a generic right to bypass the grid. Finney County, 2026-04-20 City of Osawatomie, 2026-05-29
  • Federal uncertainty persists. FERC’s June 18 SPP show-cause proceeding means co-location, cost allocation, reliability standards, and interconnection rules for large load/generation combinations may change after this update. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 2026-06-18

7) Transmission constraints and upgrades

  • SPP transmission planning gate: SPP’s Integrated Transmission Planning process produces a 10-year expansion plan, while HILL/HILLGA and CHILLS are the 2026 large-load-specific processes for projects whose scale can affect regional planning or require associated generation. Southwest Power Pool, 2026-07-02
  • Curtailable bridge service, not firm-service replacement: CHILLS gives SPP a conditional pathway for large loads to use available transmission capacity while firm-service upgrades or supporting generation are built, but it preserves curtailment authority during constraints and emergencies, so projects using the pathway still carry deliverability and reliability-risk conditions. FERC eLibrary accession 20260605-3090, 2026-06-05 Utility Dive, 2026-06-08
  • Project-funded local upgrades: De Soto says the Beale/Mount Sunflower developer will fund 100% of required water, sewer, and utility upgrades, and Osawatomie/Alcove says Project Catalyst would fund new transmission infrastructure, substation upgrades, and any generation capacity required to serve the campus. City of De Soto, 2026-07-17 City of Osawatomie, 2026-05-29
  • Local siting files require power detail. Finney County’s April 2026 SUP attachment requires applicants to disclose MW demand, transmission-line maps, grid vs. co-located generation sourcing, backup generation and fuel, utility service availability, and potential SPP HILL involvement, making electric deliverability part of the land-use record. Finney County, 2026-04-20
  • Buffalo Flats-Delaware regional upgrade requires rerouting. On May 12, the KCC approved the western portion of Evergy’s 133-mile, 345 kV Buffalo Flats-to-Delaware line but rejected the eastern route and ordered a new routing study to reduce Flint Hills and oil-and-gas impacts. The line is part of SPP’s Branson 345 kV Overlay and remains relevant to southeast Kansas transfer capability, but it is not dedicated to any single data center. Kansas Corporation Commission, 2026-05-12

Notes on methodology