NextEra earns public utility status in Kansas

The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) awarded a certificate of convenience and necessity (CCN) to NextEra Energy Transmission Southwest, LLC, greenlighting the company to do business as a transmission-only public utility.

This will allow NextEra to proceed with a project it began pursuing in February: to build a 94-mile, 365 kV transmission line from Wolf Creek, Kansas, across the border to the Blackberry Substation in southwest Missouri. While the final route has yet to be approved, the project as a whole won the backing of the regional transmission organization Southwest Power Pool (SPP) for what it would provide in terms of transmission capability and congestion relief in the state.

The proposed line will run through five Kansas counties: Coffey, Anderson, Allen, Bourbon, and Crawford.

“Based on the testimony received, the Commission finds that the Transmission Project will have a beneficial effect on customers by lowering overall energy costs, removing inefficiency, relieving transmission congestion, and improving the reliability of the transmission system,” the KCC said in its order.

According to testimony from Justin Grady, KCC’s chief of revenue requirements, cost of service, and finance, customers could, in turn, undergo a bill increase of $0.04-$0.05 per month to cover the cost of the line. Those increases would begin in 2025. However, Grady was quick to add that the benefits of the project should bring a reduction of approximately $4-$7 for every dollar spent on the line over the next 40 years of operation.

Though the company can now operate as a public utility, the KCC did add certain stipulations on NextEra. Importantly, NextEra will have to evaluate the feasibility of double-circuiting the line – meaning the same structure would have two independent circuits, eliminating the need for extra easement and reducing structure costs – with an existing 25-mile Evergy 161 kV transmission line before filing any line siting application.