Evergy plans to ask for a rate increase in Kansas next year to help pay for the additional infrastructure required to meet the Panasonic battery plant’s massive anticipated demand for electricity, after state regulators decide whether to grant an already-pending rate hike request from the utility. The possibility that Kansas ratepayers may be asked to help shoulder the burden of providing Panasonic with power comes as the international company is already expected to receive as much as $8 billion in federal, state and local incentives and support for the Johnson County battery plant. Panasonic will likely qualify for a discounted electric rate offered to economic development projects. Evergy, which services eastern Kansas and western Missouri, already announced in April it would ask the Kansas Corporation Commission to approve raising rates up to 24.9% in some parts of the state. The commission is expected to make a decision by late December, and public hearings are ongoing. The pote...