Kansas Electricity Rates per kWh: Why Wichita Pays More Than Johnson County

In 2018 Kansas homes paid more for electricity than the US average and far more than Missouri, Nebraska or Oklahoma; the next year the Legislature ordered a study to find out why. Since then the Kansas price has risen less than any other state’s, and it now sits well below the US average, though still above most of its neighbours.

The smallest rise of any state since 2018

A Kansas kWh cost 10.02¢ in 2010. By 2018 the yearly average had reached 13.4¢, about half a cent above the US average and 2–3¢ above Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Kansas paid more than the US average in 2016, 2017 and 2018, and in no other year since 2010.

From 2018 to 2025 the Kansas price rose 8%, the smallest rise of any state, while the US average rose by about a third. Over the latest 12 months Kansas homes paid 15.13¢, 51% more than in 2010.

Westar, KCP&L and the 2018 merger that made Evergy

Most Kansas homes then bought power from one of two companies: Westar Energy, in Topeka, Wichita and much of the east, and Kansas City Power & Light, in Johnson County and the Kansas City suburbs. In May 2018 the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) approved their merger into Evergy. Kansas customers were promised $75 million in bill credits over five years, and base rates were to stay fixed for up to five years once the pending rate cases closed.

In 2019 the Legislature ordered a study of why Kansas rates had climbed. The first part, delivered in January 2020, found that Kansas prices had risen over the decade to above the regional average, driven by flattening demand, environmental retrofits at fossil-fuel plants and rising transmission costs. It also saw “some degree of imbalance” between utility incentives and the public interest; KCC staff rejected any reading that utility profits caused the rise. With base rates fixed, the Kansas price stayed below its 2018 level until 2022.

The KCC now reports to the Senate Utilities Committee each year on how Kansas compares with nine nearby states. Its January 2024 update found the average Kansas price across all customers up 0.65% from 2018 to October 2023, against 10.13% for the nine.

2023 split the state; 2025 raised Topeka and Wichita

When the freeze ended, Evergy’s two Kansas utilities went in opposite directions. In the rate case settled in November 2023, Evergy Kansas Central (the former Westar) got a net increase of $74 million, about $4.64 a month for the average home, while Evergy Kansas Metro (the former KCP&L) cut its rates by $32.9 million, about $6.07 a month. The new rates began with bills from 21 December 2023.

The February 2021 winter storm added its own split. Evergy Kansas Central homes paid about $2.82 a month more for two years from April 2023 to cover the storm’s fuel and power costs. Evergy Kansas Metro homes got a credit of about $6.60 a month for a year, because that utility had sold power into the market during the storm.

In September 2025 the KCC approved a second Evergy Kansas Central increase: $128 million, against the $196.4 million Evergy asked for, or about $8.47 a month for a home using 900 kWh, from October 2025 bills. One commissioner dissented in part over the 9.7% return allowed on the transmission delivery charge, a separate surcharge on the bill, calling it excessive.

Two gas plants coming onto Evergy Kansas Central bills

In July 2025 the KCC approved Evergy’s plan for two 710 MW gas-fired plants, Viola in Sumner County and McNew in Reno County, and the Kansas Sky solar farm in Douglas County. Evergy Kansas Central owns half of each gas plant; Viola is due to run by 1 January 2029 and McNew by 1 January 2030. Bills on Evergy Kansas Central were projected to rise about 8.6% to pay for the three projects. Opponents argued that the new demand comes mainly from data centers and that they, not households, should carry the cost.

In November 2025 the KCC approved a separate Evergy rate plan for new or expanding customers that need 75 MW or more, such as data centers. They sign contracts of at least 12 years, pay a minimum bill of 80% of the demand they contract for even if they use less, post two years of minimum bills as collateral, and pay for grid upgrades built only for them. The KCC says the rates are set so that existing customers do not subsidise them.

These costs reach bills only as the plants are built and enter rates, so they are not yet in the monthly figures above.

Your bill on Evergy, the BPU or a co-op

Over the latest 12 months the average Kansas home used 10,633 kWh and paid about $1,609, 36th of 51 states for the yearly bill. Choose your utility below to start from what its homes paid on average in 2025, or type the kWh and total from your own bills. Bills swing with the seasons, so a summer bill and a winter bill together give a fairer year than either alone.

Johnson County pays less than Wichita and Topeka

Evergy serves about two in three Kansas homes, through three systems that report to EIA separately. In 2025 Evergy Kansas Central homes paid 14.56¢ per kWh all in, and the Wichita-area system, Evergy Kansas South (the former Kansas Gas and Electric), 14.54¢. Both fall under the Evergy Kansas Central rate cases. Evergy Metro homes, mostly in Johnson County, paid 13.21¢, after that utility’s 2023 rate cut.

In Kansas City, Kansas, power comes from the city’s Board of Public Utilities (BPU), which sets its own rates rather than going to the KCC; its homes paid 14.93¢. Across western and rural Kansas, co-ops range widely. Midwest Energy, based in Hays, charged 12.01¢, the lowest of any Kansas utility with 10,000 or more homes. FreeState Electric, in north-east Kansas, charged 17.84¢, the highest of them. The cheapest power in the state comes from city systems such as McPherson’s, at about 9.5¢ in 2025.

EIA-861 for 2025: each utility’s revenue from homes divided by the kWh they used, so monthly charges are spread into the price.

July uses twice what April does

A Kansas home uses about twice as much electricity in July as in April, the year’s quietest month, and has a smaller second peak in January. Kansas ranks 26th of 51 states for use.

Below the US, but above Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma

The gap with its neighbours has narrowed since 2018 but not closed. Nebraska, with its public power districts, paid about 2.4¢ less per kWh, and Missouri and Oklahoma about 1.2–1.3¢ less. Colorado, to the west, paid about 1.5¢ more.

Across the border: Nebraska 12.74¢, Oklahoma 13.81¢, Missouri 13.97¢, Colorado 16.62¢.

All 50 states and DC on one page, with a map.

January and February 2019 in the monthly figures

One pair of months stands out in the Kansas series. In January 2019 the price per kWh fell by about 15%, and in February it rose by about 22%, landing near where it started. February 2023 also rose by about 13%. These are EIA’s figures as reported and are shown unchanged. A single month like these barely moves the 12-month averages used on this page.

Figures to August 2026 (EIA marks recent months preliminary), utility figures for 2025, refreshed 3 November 2026. How every number in this series is made and checked.

• Kansas, every month since 2010 (CSV): price per kWh, kWh and bill per home, and the US price.
• Every state, DC and the US (CSV)
• Everything above with the utility and supplier figures (JSON)

EIA data is in the public domain: credit the U.S. Energy Information Administration. A link back is welcome.

Questions

Electricity rates in other states

Version history

• 1.0.1 (November 2026): wording and page heading tidied; no figures changed.
• 1.0 (November 2026): first published.