Those giant power poles in northeast Wichita? Evergy may not remove them after all

Back in May, officials with Evergy — formerly Westar Energy — admitted that they’d made a mistake by erecting enormous steel electrical poles next to houses in northeast Wichita, and they said they’d do right by residents.

So far nothing has happened with the poles. And after meeting with Evergy representatives this week, neighbors and community leaders understandably are worried they’ll be stuck with eyesores.

At a meeting in a church fellowship hall Tuesday, Evergy officials presented three options to residents along Mossman and Green streets. One is to leave the steel structures as is.

Other proposals call for replacing some steel poles with slightly shorter wood poles, moving them closer to the street, and either keeping the large steel structures at each corner or replacing them with a cluster of wood poles and guy-wires.

None of the options would blend into the residential area. None would do away with towering steel poles along 11th Street North or Hydraulic, many of which are just paces away from residents’ front doors. And none would make up for Evergy’s disastrous misstep in a neighborhood that deserves better.

“I believe that this community was taken for granted — you can almost say exploited — and that’s just the capitalistic way,” said Melody McCray-Miller, a former state legislator who represented Wichita’s 89th District.

“We understand that, but it’s wrong.”

Kenyal Lattimore bought a home on North Green through Habitat for Humanity about two years ago. After Evergy bought the property across from her — part of the company’s move to compensate homeowners and renters for the larger poles — Lattimore’s front-porch view now includes a giant pole as well as a boarded-up, vacant house.

“It just makes you feel like, no matter what, they’re going to do what they want to do,” Lattimore said. “At this point, it just looks like a lose-lose for me.”

Evergy officials say the taller, wider poles are the price of progress — an updated transmission line connecting three substations in northeast Wichita that have served as an electric-power artery for more than 60 years.

But it’s hard to look at the metal monstrosities towering over homes and believe this would happen in other, more affluent parts of the city.

And it’s hard to look at the options presented this week and believe Evergy has made good on its promise to make things right.

“Having to live with this, it feels like we are not very important to them,” said Rep. Gail Finney, who represents the city’s 84th District in the Kansas House. “We feel like we’re being spoken to instead of being part of the conversation.”

It’s doubtful Evergy can repair damage done to the neighborhood in terms of property values or atmosphere. Even more discouraging is the prospect of more steel towers springing up through neighborhoods all the way north to Wichita State University — a proposed second phase of the project that is on hold until next year.

A bill introduced by Finney would require utility companies to follow a permit process before placing transmission line poles or transformers. Lawmakers should pass it, and Evergy should learn from its mistakes.

This story was originally published December 5, 2019 at 4:37 AM.