Kansas Commission Approves Evergy’s Electric Vehicle Rebate Program

The Kansas Corporation Commission Dec. 6 approved an agreement, allowing Evergy to offer rebates for customers installing electric vehicle chargers. The settlement, negotiated between the commission staff, Citizens Utility Ratepayer Board, and Evergy, provides new rate options to facilitate the transition to electric vehicles.

Evergy’s program offers rebates of up to $500 to help homeowners install a hardwired charger or a 240-volt outlet and also opt a time-of-use, or TOU, rate plan. Additionally, the company will offer a $250 rebate for customers who do not choose the TOU rate. Commercial customers also qualify for the program.

The agreement creates two off-peak rates for EV charging and does not alter the current rates. Hence, it is expected to have little impact on rates. Long-term, EV charging has the potential to cut costs for all customers as the utility’s fixed costs are spread among a larger number of users.

Currently, Evergy has a large number of charging stations grouped under the Clean Charge Network structure. This network has more than 900 charging stations, located as follows: 29 stations in the Central Kansas jurisdiction, 267 in the Kansas Metro, 393 in the Missouri Metro, and 244 in the West Missouri jurisdiction.

Regulators denied Every’s initial plan, which sought to expand its network and recover costs from customers in future rate cases. The commission denied the proposal as premature in light of the availability of federal dollars for electric vehicle charging stations. Kansas expects to receive $40 million over five years through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to support charging infrastructure expansion. The law also allows Kansas the opportunity to apply for the $2.5 billion in grant funding for EV charging.