Kansas City Power & Light wants to build a solar farm in southeastern Jackson County, near Greenwood.
If the Missouri Public Service Commission greenlights the application next month, the solar farm could be online as soon as April.
“The sun and sunshine is free, so to the extent we can harness that, there’s very little operational cost to running this solar farm,” says KCP&L spokesman Chuck Caisley.
Caisley says KCP&L isn’t expecting much opposition because it’s such a small project. The solar farm would power just 500 houses during peak sunlight hours, generally from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Compare that to the Iatan Generating Plant near Weston, which can provide electricity for up to a million homes.
Still, Caisley says it’s time for KCP&L to begin investing in solar power.
“It’s important to have a diverse portfolio of where you get your generation, and every day, solar becomes more price competitive,” Caisley says. “Everybody knows it’s a lot more environmentally-friendly.”
Elle Moxley is a reporter for KCUR. You can reach her on Twitter @ellemoxley.
