The largest coal-fired power plant in Kansas, the 2,147-MW Jeffrey Energy Center, remained offline June 5 as the plant's operator Westar Energy Inc. investigated the deaths of two employees following an equipment failure.
Two operations supervisors on June 3 were critically injured with burns after a piece of equipment with high-pressure steam behind it failed at the plant's unit 3, Westar said in a June 4 news release. The two men later died of their injuries.
Westar spokeswoman Gina Penzig said June 5 there is no deadline for when the investigation will be complete or when the units will be returned to operation. All three of the plant's units were shut down and Westar said in its news release they will resume operations when it is safe to do so.
Penzig told The Topeka (Kan.) Capital-Journal in a June 4 article that "customers will not be affected by Jeffrey being offline" and that power from the rest of Westar's fleet and from the regional power grid operated by the Southwest Power Pool can help meet customer needs.
The Jeffrey Energy Center is the largest coal-fired power plant in Kansas. Its three units came online between 1978 and 1983 and are fueled by southern Powder River Basin coal from Blackjewel LLC's Eagle Butte Mine in Campbell County, Wyo., according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. About 173 MW from the plant is sold under contract through January 2019 to Mid-Kansas Electric Co. LLC.
Westar Energy is a unit of Evergy Inc., a new holding company formed by the merger of Westar and Great Plains Energy Inc. on June 4.
