Evergy building solar farm to help power Arkansas city

Kansas City, Mo.-based utility Evergy will build a 1.44-MW solar
array to provide power for an Arkansas community.

Paragould Light Water and Cable selected Evergy through a request for proposals process. The utility’s services unit, Evergy Energy Partners, will guide the project.

“Paragould’s strong leadership shows their investment to
continued growth in renewable energy and commitment to our partnership,” said
Lloyd Jackson, managing director, Evergy Energy Partners. “Our Evergy team is
proud to partner with Paragould as they expand their energy sources that will
continue to serve the community.”

Paragould is a city of close to 30,000 residents near the
northeastern tip of Arkansas. Nearby Jonesboro announced completion of a 2-MW
solar-storage project earlier this month.

“Our solar project can
make Paragould more competitive as we attract companies that want renewable
energy,” Paragould Light Water and Cavle CEO Darrell Phillips said. “The energy
produced from this solar project will be our community’s most affordable
peaking energy resource.”

Evergy, which serves
about 1.6 million customers in Kansas and Missouri, generates close to half of
its power mix from emission-free resources, according to company.

Evergy was formed in
2018 by the merger of Westar Energy and Kansas City Power and Light.