<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1581092043897.jpeg" alt=" Brian Grimmett / Kansas News Service " />
 <figcaption> Brian Grimmett / Kansas News Service </figcaption>
 </figure>By BRIAN GRIMMETT <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/post/hedge-fund-pushes-kansas-utility-away-coal-toward-wind-and-solar">Kansas News Service</a>TOPEKA, Kansas — Curtis Sneden remembers what 
impatient investors did to Topeka-based Payless Shoes. Pressure for 
profits now and the bankruptcy that followed.Now the president of the <a href="https://government-affairs.topekapartnership.com/" target="_blank">Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce</a>
 looks at regional utility giant Evergy and worries what might come of 
pressure from activist investment firm Elliott Management Corp.’s 
demands for a higher stock price.“When you’re on the ground and 
it’s your friends and neighbors and your community and economy, that is 
not a very reassuring type of narrative,” Sneden said.He’s worried that the changes requested by Elliott Management could lead to layoffs at Evergy — or worse.“When this sort of challenge comes along, for Topekans it gives us quite a concern,” Sneden said.<a href="https://www.elliottmgmt.com/" target="_blank">Elliott Management</a>
 is a New York-based hedge fund run by billionaire Paul Singer. It 
recently disclosed to the public that it owns 11.3 million shares of 
Evergy. Its stake is worth about $760 million and about 5% of the 
company.The hedge fund’s play to remake Evergy could lead to the
 shuttering of coal plants sooner and more spending on wind farms and 
solar power. It might also trigger layoffs and threaten careers in 
Evergy’s corporate suites. And it could alter how much customers pay for
 electricity, although analysts differ on whether consumers would 
welcome the changes.Elliot sent a letter to Evergy’s board of directors claiming it could make more money for shareholders.“A
 renewed focus on improving core utility operations and investing in 
Evergy’s critical electric infrastructure can rectify its prolonged 
underperformance,” the letter reads.It built a website, <a href="https://energizeevergy.com/letter/" target="_blank">energizeevergy.com</a>, to lobby publicly for management changes at the utility that came from the merger of Great Plains Energy and Westar Energy.Elliott
 is pressing the leadership at Evergy to invest more in renewable energy
 generation, close down its coal plants, and increase the overall 
efficiency of its operations.“It’s just really a question of timing,” said Shar Pourreza, an energy analyst at <a href="https://www.guggenheimpartners.com/" target="_blank">Guggenheim Partners</a>.He
 said, at face value, there’s nothing that Elliott is asking that Evergy
 isn’t already planning on doing. Elliott just wants it to happen 
quicker, which might be easier said than done.Conditions set by 
regulators during the Westar-Great Plains merger mean that Evergy can’t 
file a rate case for at least five years.Closing the coal plants
 early would also leave Evergy with a stranded asset, something 
investors and ratepayers would still be paying for but not using.&nbsp; And 
then there’s the trickle down effects.&nbsp;“You have to deal with job losses, the unions, loss of tax base,” Pourreza said. “There’s multiple things.”If Evergy can’t do that on its own, the analysts at Elliott argue, it should merge with yet another company. But few companies stand in a position to combine with, or purchase, Evergy.Pourrezza suggested <a href="https://www.ameren.com/" target="_blank">Ameren</a>, which is Missouri’s largest electric power provider, as the most likely suitor.In an emailed statement, Ameren said, “We do not comment on rumors or speculative (merger and acquisition) activities.”Elliott
 has a long history of pushing companies to bend to the hedge fund’s 
wishes. Sometimes that involves pushing out a company’s executives. In 
other cases, those bosses adopt Elliott’s advice.Recently, 
Elliott made similar requests to NRG Energy and Sempra Energy. 
Management at those companies worked with Elliott to make changes. The 
CEOs at the two companies ultimately kept their jobs, but changes were 
made to the composition of their boards of directors.In both cases, the companies saw their stocks increase after Elliott intervened.Evergy has not been as eager to work with Elliott. Discussions between the two companies have been ongoing since October 2019.In
 a press release, Evergy said it is confident in its ability to deliver 
long-term growth and shareholder value by continuing down the path it’s 
already established for itself.Elliott contends
 its suggestions would increase returns for investors and and save 
ratepayers money. The company argues those payoffs would come partly 
from streamlining — which might mean layoffs — and partly by cashing in 
on the ways renewable energy operating costs have become cheaper than 
burning coal.Evergy’s stock price has risen 3.86% since Elliott announced its plans.“If
 you look at some of the recent activism in this space,” Pourreza said, 
“the utilities do come out of it in some form or another better than 
they were going into it.”Brian Grimmett reports on the 
environment, energy and natural resources for KMUW in Wichita and the 
Kansas News Service. You can follow him on Twitter&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/briangrimmett?lang=en">@briangrimmett</a>&nbsp;or
 email him at grimmett@kmuw.org. The Kansas News Service is a
 collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public
 Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their 
connection to public policy.

Hedge fund pushes Kan. utility away from coal, toward wind, solar