Edward Smith, edward.smith@sierraclub.org
Zack Pistora, zack.pistora@sierraclub.org
Topeka, Kan. – The Kansas legislature may pass a bill that could cause massive energy inflation for Evergy customers throughout Kansas, right as President Trump hurls the United States into a trade war that is estimated to cost the average family up to $2,000 in additional costs on everyday products.
Senate Bill 51, the Energy Inflation Act, proposes a tax incentive to lure additional data centers to Kansas and it lacks consumer protections for electric rates that are already skyrocketing. Just last year, Kansas lawmakers enabled Evergy to recover costs during the construction of new gas plants, before a service is even provided, transferring the risk of cost overruns and construction delays from shareholders to captive monopoly customers. The Energy Inflation Act would accelerate the development of data centers in Kansas, driving up energy demand for Evergy customers while further increasing utility bills.
States ahead of Kansas in data center recruitment, like Georgia, are backpedaling similar incentives, realizing that their constituents are paying exorbitant utility bills to finance the data center boom. Georgia’s Senate Bill 34 would prohibit electric utilities from subsidizing large data centers on the backs of existing customers. The bill is sponsored by a Republican and advanced out of a committee by a 8-5 vote in committee earlier this week. The Georgia bill followed the state’s Public Service Commission adoption of new consumer protection rules to protect consumers following the state's previously approved data center tax breaks.
The Taxation Committee in the Kansas House of Representatives will hold a hearing on the Energy Inflation Act tomorrow at 3:30PM in Room 346-S. Senate Bill 51 has already advanced out of the Senate.
Statement from Zack Pistora, Kansas Chapter Director of the Sierra Club:
“President Trump’s trade wars are already increasing the costs on everyday products for hardworking Kansans, so now is not the time to provide tax breaks to multi-billion dollar tech companies that will cause the same massive increases in electric rates that we’re seeing throughout the country. Republican-led states have buyers’ remorse for selling their constituents down the river in the name of data center economic development, and Kansas lawmakers should oppose Senate Bill 51 before it’s too late.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.