By james art 
By ALLISON KITE
Kansas Spotlight
The largest electric utility in Kansas and western Missouri will add two natural gas plants by the end of 2030, the company announced Monday.
Evergy, which serves 1.6 million customers in the two states, plans to build combined-cycle natural gas plants — each with a capacity of 705 megawatts — in two Kansas counties in 2029 and 2030, respectively.
David Campbell, CEO and chairman of Evergy, said at a news conference in Hutchinson, Kansas, that the plants will “help maintain a diverse energy mix for our state” by providing “reliable, affordable, sustainable energy.”
“They are flexible resources that can increase and decrease generation based on the needs of the grid,” Campbell said, “so they pair very well with Kansas’ abundant renewable generation resources.”
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, praised the announcement at a news conference in Hutchinson, saying construction of the plants will create 500 construction jobs and 165 permanent jobs. She said the plants would provide reliable power, including during emergencies or periods of high demand, such as hot summer days.
“As Kansas continues to transition to more sustainable energy, we are doing so responsibly,” Kelly said. “These plants are much cleaner than traditional coal plants.”
According to the US Energy Information Administration, burning natural gas to produce electricity produces less carbon dioxide than coal. But leaking natural gas releases its main component, methane, into the atmosphere, which accounts for more than a third of U.S. methane emissions. Methane is a greenhouse gas 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.
The announcement notes Evergy’s growing reliance on natural gas production.
In its long-term plan, filed with regulators in 2022, Evergy plans to add exclusively wind and solar facilities over the next decade. A year later, it scaled back those planned renewable energy facilities, predicted plans to add natural gas plants and delayed the retirement of the Lawrence coal plant.
Evergy’s latest update, filed earlier this year, nearly doubles the amount of natural gas generation the utility will add between now and early 2030. At the same time, it increased planned wind and solar additions compared to last year’s plan.
Zach Pistora, a lobbyist for the environmental nonprofit Sierra Club, questioned whether Evergy would be able to meet its emissions reduction goals given its planned investments in natural gas production.
“I don’t know how a utility company can claim to be affordable, reliable or sustainable,” he said, noting that gas prices can be volatile and natural gas outages have contributed to the continuous power outages the Midwest has experienced in 2021
Besides, he said, gas flaring is bad for the environment.
A video of the press event is below.