The Kansas Corporation Commission handed transmission line opponents a significant partial victory Tuesday, approving only part of Evergy’s proposed Buffalo Flats to Delaware transmission line route while rejecting the remainder and ordering a new routing study for eastern Cowley County into Oklahoma.
The KCC approved the route from the Buffalo Flats Substation near Garden Plain eastward to the point where the line crosses U.S. 77 in Cowley County. But commissioners denied Evergy’s proposed route east of U.S. 77, saying there was insufficient evidence to prove that portion of the route was reasonable.
Instead, the commission directed Evergy to strongly consider a route that follows or parallels the U.S. 166 right of way “to the maximum extent feasible” in order to reduce impacts to the Flint Hills and oil and gas activity.
The proposed 133-mile, 345-kV transmission line would stretch from western Sedgwick County through Sumner, Cowley and Chautauqua counties before connecting near Delaware, Oklahoma.
Opponents of the project had repeatedly argued during public hearings and in filings that the line would cut through environmentally sensitive areas while offering little direct benefit to the counties it crosses.
The commission, however, still determined the overall project itself is necessary because of broader reliability, resiliency and economic development benefits tied to the Southwest Power Pool’s Branson 345-kV Overlay Project.
In its order Tuesday, the KCC said “substantial evidence” supported the reasonableness of the route west of U.S. 77, but not the portion farther east. Continue below ad.
The order now sends Evergy back to the drawing board for the eastern segment.
Evergy must submit an updated procedural schedule by June 12 that includes deadlines for a new routing study, public hearings, landowner notifications, a comment period and an evidentiary hearing.
The decision means additional proceedings and public input opportunities remain ahead before a final route east of U.S. 77 can be approved.
