TOPEKA, Kansas – Westar filed a request with the Kansas Corporation Commission to adjust its prices by 7.9 percent or $152 million.
The requested increase reflects costs of mandated environmental upgrades to comply with clean air regulations, life-extension improvements to Wolf Creek Nuclear Generating Station and investments to protect the grid against power outages, among other costs.
The KCC will scrutinize the request, with a resulting price adjustment to occur late this year.
Westar’s filing has three primary components:
- To recover costs of the clean air retrofits to its La Cygne Energy Center and costs related to improving Wolf Creek
- To seek approval for a five-year program to strengthen the power grid against storms and outages
- To request authority from the KCC to offer customers their choice of rate plans that best fit their needs and budgets.
Westar has invested nearly $2 billion during the past few years to keep its power plants in compliance with environmental regulations. The improvements at the La Cygne power plant alone, operated by and co-owned with Kansas City Power & Light, cost Westar about $600 million.ADDITIONAL INFO | Westar Energy Press Release
