Evergy breaks ground on natural gas plant in Sumner County

CONWAY SPRINGS, Kan. (KWCH) – A groundbreaking was held on Tuesday for construction of Evergy’s new natural gas plant in Sumner County.

The plant is expected to be up and running by 2029. It will be located in Conway Springs, which is in northwest Sumner County. The plant will be named the Chisholm Trail Energy Center.

“This plant will become part of the state’s energy infrastructure to make sure that as communities are growing, attracting new businesses, that energy is available to meet those needs,” said Gina Penzig, a spokeswoman for Evergy.

The last time a baseload generation plant like this was built in Kansas was Wolf Creek back in the 1980s.

Evergy said this plant will mark a more than $1 billion investment in local infrastructure.

“Some of that is going to be construction jobs, some of that’s going to be permanent jobs, some of that will be property tax that goes into the local infrastructure. When we’re going to make an investment of that nature, of that magnitude, we really like to do it in the community that we serve. We were really pleased that we were able to do that here today,” Penzig said.

The plant is expected to serve the community for 40 years.