Going solar on Evergy Kansas: net metering, K.S.A. 66-1263, and the new HB 2527 rules.

Both divisions interconnect solar under the same Kansas statute, so the application paperwork, the 150 kW residential cap, the 30-day review window, the $100 application fee, and the March 31 annual reset are identical. The differences are in the dollars: Kansas Metro and Kansas Central have separately approved tariffs, separately approved rate structures, and separate rate-case schedules at the Kansas Corporation Commission. Most installers (Solar Assure included) confirm your division during the initial site assessment by checking your Evergy account.

If your home is in Johnson County or Wyandotte County, you are most likely on Kansas Metro. If you are in Topeka, Wichita, Lawrence, Manhattan, or rural Kansas outside the KC suburbs, you are most likely on Kansas Central. Your Evergy bill identifies which company you are billed by in the masthead.

Kansas HB 2527 · Signed by Gov. Laura Kelly · June 2024

What HB 2527 changed for solar customers

After more than a year of negotiations between Evergy and the Clean Energy Business Council (the Kansas-based solar industry trade group), HB 2527 passed both chambers of the Kansas Legislature and was signed into law by Governor Kelly on June 6, 2024. The bill expanded net metering capacity in three significant ways:

• Residential system cap raised from 25 kW to 150 kW AC for customers who began operating their system on or after July 1, 2024. This is a 6× increase that finally aligns Kansas with Missouri's residential cap.
• Statewide capacity cap expanded from 1% to 5% of peak demand, ramping over four years: 2% effective July 1, 2024, 3% effective July 1, 2025, 4% effective July 1, 2026, and 5% effective July 1, 2027 and thereafter. This eliminates the prior risk that Evergy could shut off new net metering applications when the 1% cap was reached.
• New sizing rule effective July 1, 2026: a customer's generation capacity cannot exceed export capacity by more than 50% (excluding storage devices that cannot themselves add export). This is meant to discourage oversizing for the (low-value) wholesale annual buyback rate.

For homeowners considering solar in 2026 and beyond, HB 2527 is unambiguously good news: bigger systems are now eligible for net metering, and the statewide cap is unlikely to limit availability for years.

What did NOT change with HB 2527

The two parts of Kansas net metering that homeowners most often complain about were not addressed by HB 2527. First, the March 31 annual reset still applies: any banked credits left at the end of the annual cycle are paid out at the wholesale system average cost rate. Second, the excess buyback rate is still wholesale, not retail. As of early 2026, Evergy Kansas pays approximately 2.4 cents per kilowatt-hour for excess generation versus an average retail rate around 13.6 cents. The structural advantage of Missouri net metering (no annual reset, retail credits roll forward longer) remains a meaningful difference between the two states.

For full statutory text and the Kansas Corporation Commission's regulations implementing the Act (K.A.R. 82-17-1 through 82-17-5), see our companion explainer: Kansas Net Metering Law: K.S.A. 66-1263 + HB 2527 explained.

The bi-directional meter

Your existing single-direction meter is replaced by a bi-directional meter that records two separate registers: kilowatt-hours delivered to your home from the grid (kWh delivered) and kilowatt-hours received from your home back to the grid (kWh received). Evergy installs and programs the new meter after completing the post-installation inspection process.

Monthly bill calculation

Each billing cycle, Evergy subtracts your kWh received from your kWh delivered. If you delivered more than you received, the difference rolls forward as a credit on your next month's bill at the full retail rate. If you received more than you delivered, you pay the retail rate for the net difference plus your fixed monthly customer charge. This is identical to Missouri's monthly netting.

Annual reset on March 31 (the Kansas-specific catch)

Here is where Kansas differs from Missouri. Kansas Statutes Annotated 66-1265 establishes a March 31 annual reset for all customer-generators on net metering. Any banked kilowatt-hour credits accumulated through winter months will be combined with credits earned through summer months, and the running balance resets each March 31. Any net excess credits remaining on March 31 are paid out by Evergy at the wholesale system average cost rate (approximately 2.4 cents per kilowatt-hour as of 2026) rather than rolling forward at retail.

This March 31 expiration is the most important sizing consideration in Kansas solar design. Properly sized systems (covering ~100% of annual usage) typically come close to neutral on March 31, with a modest buyback. Oversized systems (covering 110%+ of annual usage) lose the excess production at wholesale, not retail, on the annual true-up date. Solar Assure typically sizes Kansas systems to roughly match annual consumption rather than oversize.

Worked example: Overland Park home, full year

Annual cycle · April through March · 9 kW system on Evergy Kansas Metro

This Overland Park homeowner sized their system slightly above annual consumption, which is acceptable in Kansas because the 600 kWh of excess (the amount that does NOT offset their own usage during the year) only buys back at $14.40 wholesale. If they had instead sized for 14,000 kWh annual production (~17% over usage), the extra 1,400 kWh would also buy back at wholesale, generating roughly $33.60 in cash for $4,000 to $5,000 of additional system cost. That math does not pencil. This is why proper sizing matters more on Evergy Kansas than on Evergy Missouri.

We also serve Lenexa, Leawood, Mission, Salina, Hutchinson, and other Evergy Kansas communities. If your home is in Kansas and Evergy is on your utility bill, we can quote you. The fastest way to find out is the solar cost calculator with your address; it pulls your roof and runs the numbers in about 60 seconds.