After outcry over Evergy poles in Wichita neighborhood, restrictions are in the works

When Evergy erected towering power poles near homes in northeast Wichita to support high-voltage lines, the ensuing outcry led to an apology and donations from the energy company.

But utilities in Kansas remained free to do the same thing in other communities.

The Kansas House approved legislation last week that would restrict the authority of Evergy and other utilities to string transmission lines through urban areas. Regulators would have additional power over the projects, with a mandate to evaluate how the poles, which soar more than 100 feet, would affect neighborhood aesthetics.

Legislators approved the bill 123-2 in a sharp rebuke to Evergy’s conduct in Wichita. It now heads to the Senate.

The vote marked a victory for Rep. Gail Finney, a Wichita Democrat whose district includes the high-voltage lines. While the bill doesn’t affect the lines already in place, any future lines would face greater review.

“Unless we have some type of accountability in Kansas, this is going to continue to happen to neighborhoods,” Finney said. “And I don’t want it to happen to anyone else.”

Finney and other supporters of the proposal condemned how Evergy has handled the Wichita project, saying there’s been a lack of accountability for the company. In 2018, Evergy – then called Westar – began upgrading a transmission line in northeast Wichita, replacing older, wooden poles with metal poles that were taller and wider.

Dozens of new poles were erected throughout the predominantly low-income and historically black neighborhood. After sustained complaints from residents, Evergy acknowledged making a mistake. The company launched a $1 million community fund and pledged $250,000 for a scholarship program to serve northeast Wichita residents.

The poles are still there.

Several lawmakers — including those who participated in a tour of the neighborhood — expressed shock at what had happened.

“When I took that bus tour in Wichita and we went down those streets and we saw what this corporation has done to that neighborhood, it is absolutely appalling,” Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat, said.

The underlying legislation approved by the House deals with electric vehicles. But legislators adopted an amendment offered by Finney that requires utilities to go through a permitting process for transmission lines in urban areas that would include a public hearing. The Kansas Corporation Commission, which regulates utilities, also would be required to take into account aesthetics, location, environment and population density when deciding whether to approve transmission lines in urban areas.

Under the bill, homeowners can “at least be confident that if a utility company plans activity in their neighborhood, or near their property, that they’ll at least be notified of it and notified in advance of the work,” said Ann Fox, director of Wichita Habitat for Humanity.

Fox said eight or nine Habitat homes are directly adjacent to lots with the poles.

Evergy opposes the measure, contending the definition of an urban transmission project is too broad and would require long and expensive studies for many projects. Some projects are as simple as moving a few poles so a road can be widened, Evergy spokeswoman Gina Penzig said in a statement.

“We oppose the amendment as written because it would add time and expense to nearly all transmission projects, which ultimately also affects electricity prices,” Penzig said. “We have and will continue to work with residents and leaders in Wichita and all the communities we serve. We think there are better ways to address their concerns.”

Penzig, the Evergy spokeswoman, said the utility’s work to engage homeowners, landowners and neighbors along transmission projects “has exceeded state requirements” and that it had expanded its communication over the past year.

“As a result of listening to northeast Wichita residents and leaders who represent them, we added community open houses for rebuild projects when the upgraded lines are in or near residential areas,” Penzig said. “These meetings allow us to hear and address the concerns of neighbors and to provide education about projects.”

KCC spokeswoman Linda Berry said the agency doesn’t have a position on the proposal.

Rep. Mark Schreiber, an Emporia Republican, said the terms included in the bill, such as “aesthetics,” are vague and predicted the KCC would struggle to define them. While he said Evergy didn’t do a good job initially, “they’re trying to make that right.”

But Wichita City Council member Brandon Johnson called the circumstances under which the poles were installed “a tragedy.” He supports the legislation and said if it passes into law, “this tragedy won’t happen in Kansas again.”

“We’ll have that third-party oversight from the KCC, which is something that would have really helped in this case,” Johnson said.

It’s unclear at this point what Evergy plans to do in the northeast Wichita neighborhood where the poles are already installed.

Johnson said Evergy has been developing a plan that it will share with the neighborhood in the coming weeks based on concerns aired by residents at a town hall in December.

Johnson said he thinks Evergy will ultimately replace some of the steel poles in northeast Wichita and replace them with less obtrusive poles. Residents in the northeast Wichita neighborhood affected by the poles are expected to get letters from Evergy in the coming weeks outlining the company’s plans.

In response to Johnson’s remarks, Penzig said the company is working to finalize its plan for changes to the line and develop its communication plan.

“Many of the citizens that were at the town hall that I heard, and those who reached out to me, want to see more of the wooden poles than the steel towers,” Johnson said.

“I would assume the majority said that. So it will either be, I would assume, either all wood or some mixture of both wood and steel,” Johnson said.

Removal and replacement of some of the poles could happen as early as this fall, Johnson said.

This story was originally published March 2, 2020 at 5:01 AM.