New EV battery factory requires energy from coal-fired power plant

An upcoming $4 billion electric vehicle (EV) battery factory in De Soto, Kansas, has been hailed as the result of President Joe Biden’s renewable energy efforts in the Inflation Reduction Act. However, building the factory may also mean the continued existence of a nearby coal-fired power plant.

Running this new EV battery factory, backed by Japanese electronics company Panasonic, is going to require a significant amount of power, something that representatives at Evergy, an electric resource provider, has warned government officials will present “near term challenges from a resource adequacy perspective.”

The energy needed for this factory to become operational will require an amount of electricity equivalent to what is used to power a small city.

“Beyond the sheer magnitude of load and load factor, Panasonic’s construction schedule, and, in turn, its energy needs, are being planned on a very aggressive schedule,” said Kayla Messamore, Evergy’s vice president of strategy and long-term planning. “With energy needs starting to ramp in 2024 and full load requirements by 2026, there is urgency to procure capacity and energy to fulfill the expected energy usage schedule.” 

As a result, plans to transition the coal plant to utilizing natural gas have been put on hold in order to help produce power for the factory. Additionally, a pair of new substations will have to be built, while another three existing ones will need to be upgraded in order to satisfy the energy demand.

“Building the next generation of electric vehicles and other clean technologies will require increased power generation,” Panasonic said in a statement. “Over time, inefficient coal plants will be retired and more zero-carbon energy will be built to meet this demand.”

Representatives with the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign have decried the move to continue utilizing coal for the factory’s energy needs, claiming the decision has “squandered tens of millions of dollars on coal, causing an estimated 18 premature deaths annually and disproportionately harming Black and LatinX communities.”

“Evergy is doubling down on costly, dirty coal and asking Kansans to foot the bill,” said Ty Gorman, a campaign representative for the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign. “These plants not only poison our air, they leach heavy metals into our water supply that devastate local wildlife and undermine the purity of our drinking water sources. Ultimately, fossil fuels destabilize the climate, generating increasingly severe weather and seriously imperiling our future.”

Meanwhile, the CEO of the American Coal Council, Emily Arthun, has said that with energy needs increasing around the country, closing coal-fired power plants has becoming a “liability,” calling the closures “premature.”

“I met with senators and representatives who understand that we’re going to need coal for far longer than people are talking about,” Arthun said. “People are starting to understand that energy needs are increasing, and these premature [coal-fired power plant] closures are a liability.”

Panasonic may be eligible to receive nearly $7 billion in tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act as a part of Biden’s electrification push. When taking into account other local and state incentives, that total could reach as much as $8 billion.

“I’m just concerned. This whole green energy program, the only way it stands on its own two feet is with all these government subsidies,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. “I am concerned about the amount of money they’re being subsidized on the backs of hardworking Kansans.”