Kan. Utility Plans $380M In Pollution Upgrades

In March, Westar asked the Kansas Corporation Commission for a $34 million increase in charges to customers to cover other environmental costs. The commission expects to issue an order by May 29, and the charges could start showing up on consumers' bills for June.

Westar estimated that it spent $243 million on pollution controls in 2008, most of it at its coal-burning Jeffrey Energy Center outside St. Marys, about 30 miles northwest of Topeka.

David Springe, chief attorney for the Citizens' Utility Ratepayers Board, a state agency representing small businesses and residential utility customers, said consumers should expect to continue seeing their bills rise.

Westar said it plans to build new filtration systems and rebuild the sulfur dioxide scrubbers for two of its three Lawrence units. It also plans to improve the burners on all three units.

Coal-fired plants account for about half of Westar's generating capacity. The Lawrence Energy Center's three coal-fired units have a total capacity of 530 megawatts, or about 8 percent of Westar's total capacity of 6,508 megawatts.

"Everybody who owns a coal plant in the country right now is going through this process of an environmental upgrade," Springe said in an interview. "It's going to be a lot of money. It's going to be a huge rate impact, but we're going to have cleaner air."