FERC Takes Comments Through November 2 on Southern Star's Pipeline and New Compressor Station to Fuel Evergy's McNew Power Plant Near Hutchinson, Kansas

Why it is being built

Southern Star says the project would provide firm natural gas transportation to Evergy Kansas Central's new combined-cycle gas turbine plant, the McNew Power Plant in Reno County. The notice says the added capacity would support the plant's planned conversion to natural gas, "enhancing regional electric reliability and supporting the transition from coal-fired generation." Evergy is the electric utility serving much of Kansas.

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What would be built (all in Kansas)

• A new 1.6-mile, 30-inch natural gas pipeline (Line RE) in Reno County, from a new compressor station to a new meter station at the McNew plant.
• A new Hutchinson Compressor Station along Southern Star's existing 26-inch Hugoton Loop Line RA in Reno County.
• A new Evergy Meter Station at the McNew plant.
• Changes inside the existing Hesston Compressor Station (Harvey County) and Stafford Compressor Station (Stafford County).
• Tie-in piping, a pig launcher and a pig receiver for pipeline cleaning and inspection tools.

Land and early questions

• Construction would disturb about 74.23 acres. About 53.11 acres would be kept for permanent operation, and the rest restored.
• FERC staff have already flagged a routing issue. The notice says it is unclear why Line RE takes a roundabout path — south along S. McNew Road, west along E. Morgan Ave., then back north along S. McNew Road — instead of a more direct route.
• FERC staff will decide after scoping whether to prepare an Environmental Assessment or a full Environmental Impact Statement, and will look at alternatives.

For landowners

If you own land along the route, a pipeline company representative may contact you about an easement. You do not have to sign. FERC's notice explains that if the project is approved, the Natural Gas Act gives the company the right of eminent domain, and a court would set compensation if no agreement is reached. FERC itself does not oversee that process.

How to comment

• Online through FERC's eComment or eFiling at ferc.gov, using Docket CP26-572-000.
• By mail to the Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.
• Anyone who commented before the docket opened on August 31, 2026 must refile in CP26-572-000.

Source

• Federal Register, October 6, 2026, FR Doc. 2026-20453 (91 FR 63534), FERC, "Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline, Inc.; Notice of Scoping Period Requesting Comments on Environmental Issues for the Proposed Evergy McNew Power Plant Delivery Project," Docket No. CP26-572-000.

Notes and sources

1. Image: Aerial view of Hutchinson, Kansas, the Reno County seat, in 2023 (file photo, illustrative; not the McNew plant site). Photo: Quintin Soloviev via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).
2. Author: Ryan Standley / Record of Sale, LLC / Notice Nearby.
3. Discussed on @NoticeNearYou: (pending — fill xPostUrl after live post).
4. Not legal advice. Not a newspaper. Not Legal Publication. Record of Sale, LLC (Oregon).