Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $209 million, or $0.88 per share, up from $191 million, or $0.82 per share, a year earlier, as regulated investment recovery, load growth and revenue from large customers more than offset higher operating costs.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David Campbell said the company remains on track to achieve the midpoint of its full-year adjusted earnings guidance range of $4.14 to $4.34 per share. Evergy reaffirmed its long-term adjusted EPS growth target of 6% to 8% or more through 2030 from the 2026 midpoint of $4.24, with annual growth expected to exceed 8% beginning in 2028.
Large customers support demand growth
Evergy said it has executed energy service agreements, or ESAs, for five data-center projects under its large-load power service tariffs. Those projects represent about 2.5 gigawatts of steady-state peak load. Including 500 megawatts from non-LLPS large customers, including Panasonic and smaller data centers, the company’s large-customer load totals about 3 gigawatts.
Campbell said Evergy expects to sign at least one additional ESA in 2026 and plans to provide further detail on its third-quarter call in November. The company said its five-year financial plan does not include the effects of prospective expansion projects.
The existing signed agreements include 1.3 gigawatts of projects that are operating or progressing toward steady-state operations, along with 1.7 gigawatts under ESAs with minimum monthly billing provisions generally spanning 16 to 17 years. Evergy expects the signed projects to support retail load growth of approximately 7% to 8% annually through 2030.
Evergy also identified approximately 2 gigawatts to 2.5 gigawatts of potential expansion opportunities at or adjacent to existing customer locations, up from a prior estimate of 1 gigawatt to 1.5 gigawatts. In addition, it said it is in advanced discussions with new Tier 2 customers representing roughly 1 gigawatt to 2 gigawatts, with the opportunity primarily extending beyond 2030. The remaining pipeline exceeds 10 additional gigawatts, according to the company.
During the question-and-answer session, Campbell said prospective customers generally seek firm power from Evergy’s system resources, though the company can accommodate customers that arrange power purchase agreements or bring their own generation. He characterized the expected customer profile as similar to existing agreements with hyperscalers and experienced data-center developers.
Sales, investment and resource plans
Buckler said weather-normalized demand increased 1.8% in the second quarter, led by commercial and industrial demand. Commercial demand rose 4%, reflecting the initial ramp-up of data-center usage, while industrial demand increased 6.2%, helped by Panasonic’s continued operating ramp.
On a year-to-date basis, weather-normalized demand grew 3.3%. Evergy attributed the increase largely to commercial and industrial consumption, as well as favorable regional economic conditions, including unemployment rates below the national average in Missouri, Kansas and the Kansas City metropolitan area.
Second-quarter earnings benefited by $0.10 per share from load growth, including an approximately $0.04 per-share benefit from a large data center that began operations in March and Panasonic’s ramp. Recovery of and return on regulated investments, including new retail rates in Kansas Central and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-regulated investment, contributed another $0.10 per share.
Higher operations and maintenance expense, depreciation and interest expense net of allowance for funds used during construction reduced EPS by $0.08. Other items reduced EPS by $0.06, including $0.02 of dilution from convertible bonds.
Evergy’s February capital plan called for $21.6 billion of investment over five years. The company now expects about $1 billion of incremental capital associated with generation resources required to serve customer agreements already secured. Its 2026 integrated resource plan includes more than 5 gigawatts of additions through 2032, including approximately 3.9 gigawatts of natural gas generation, nearly 800 megawatts of solar and 450 megawatts of battery storage.
The company said the additional investment would lift its projected rate-base compound annual growth rate through 2030 to about 12%, from a prior 11.5% estimate. Buckler said Evergy expects EPS growth to trail rate-base growth by roughly 250 basis points, a relationship management described as generally stable over the planning period.
Regulatory matters and customer affordability
In Kansas, Evergy has filed notice for a planned predetermination application involving a natural-gas plant, solar facility and battery-storage project. In Missouri, the company filed notice for a certificate of convenience and necessity request for similar assets.
Evergy also has a pending Missouri Metro rate case. Rebuttal testimony is due Aug. 11, surrebuttal and true-up direct testimony are due Sept. 10, settlement conferences are scheduled to begin Sept. 23, and hearings are set to begin Oct. 5.
Separately, the company has a pending CCN request for the 440-megawatt Mullin Creek No. 2 simple-cycle gas turbine in Nodaway County, Missouri. A staff report is due Sept. 15, followed by a settlement conference Sept. 22 and hearings beginning Oct. 19.
Campbell said Evergy expects rate increases for the significant majority of residential customers to be in line with or below inflation over the next several years. He said Missouri West customers may see increases above inflation during the next five years as the utility adds infrastructure and dispatchable generation, though management expects those rates to remain regionally competitive.
In the Missouri Metro rate case, Campbell said Evergy reduced its initial requested revenue requirement by $25 million, or about 15%, because of data-center-related revenue. He said the relative reduction could increase as large customers continue to ramp.
Evergy said it had priced approximately $425 million through forward sales agreements under its at-the-market equity program as of June 30. That represents more than half of its expected $700 million to $900 million of 2026 equity issuance. Buckler said the remaining needs are addressable through the ATM program and that the company currently does not plan a block equity issuance.
About Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG)
Evergy, Inc is a regulated electric utility that generates, transmits and distributes electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers primarily across Kansas and western Missouri. The company provides core utility services including retail electric delivery, grid operations, customer service and outage restoration, operating under state regulatory frameworks. Evergy serves a mix of urban and rural communities, including portions of the Kansas City metropolitan area and other population centers in its service territory.
The company’s business activities span power generation, system planning, transmission and distribution infrastructure, and customer-facing programs such as energy efficiency and demand-side management.
