Item 1A. RISK FACTORS

Utility Regulatory Risks:

Prices are established by regulators and may not be sufficient to result in a recovery of costs or provide for a return on investment.

The prices that the FERC, KCC and MPSC authorize the utility subsidiaries of Evergy to charge significantly influence the Evergy Companies' results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

In general, utilities are allowed to recover in customer rates costs that were prudently incurred to provide utility service, plus a reasonable return on invested capital. There can be no assurance, however, that regulators will determine costs to have been prudently incurred. Further, the amounts approved by the regulators may not be sufficient to allow for a recovery of costs or provide for an adequate return on and of capital investments. Also, amounts that were approved by regulators may be appealed, modified, limited or eliminated by subsequent regulatory or legislative actions. A failure to recover costs or earn a reasonable return on invested capital could have a material adverse effect on the results of operations, financial condition and cash flows of Evergy and its utility subsidiaries.

The Evergy Companies are also exposed to cost-recovery shortfalls due to the inherent "regulatory lag" in the rate-setting process. This is because utility rates are generally based on historical information and, except for certain situations where regulators allow for recovery of expenses through use of a formula that tracks costs, are not subject to adjustment between rate cases. In connection with the merger, Evergy Kansas Central and Evergy Metro agreed

to a five-year base rate moratorium in Kansas beginning in December 2018. See Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements for additional information. In addition, effective as of January 1, 2019, Evergy Metro and Evergy Missouri West elected into plant-in service accounting (PISA), which, by law, requires each company to keep base rates constant for three years following Evergy Metro's and Evergy Missouri West's last general rate case and limits the extent to which prices can increase thereafter. These and other factors may result in under-recovery of costs or failure to earn the authorized return on investment, or both.

Failure to timely recover the full investment costs of capital projects, the impact of renewable energy and energy efficiency programs, other utility costs and expenses due to regulatory disallowances, regulatory lag or other factors could lead to lowered credit ratings, reduced access to capital markets, increased financing costs, lower flexibility due to constrained financial resources and increased collateral security requirements or reductions or delays in planned capital expenditures. In response to competitive, economic, political, legislative, public perception and regulatory pressures, Evergy's utility subsidiaries may be subject to rate moratoriums, rate refunds, limits on rate increases, lower allowed returns on investments or rate reductions, including phase-in plans designed to spread the impact of rate increases over an extended period for the benefit of customers. Any of these results could have a material adverse effect on the results of operations, financial condition and cash flows of the Evergy Companies.

Legislative and regulatory requirements may increase costs and result in compliance penalties.

FERC, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and SPP have implemented and enforce an extensive set of transmission system reliability, cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection standards that apply to public utilities. The MPSC and KCC have the authority to implement utility operational standards and requirements, such as vegetation management standards, facilities inspection requirements and quality of service standards. In addition, Evergy is also subject to health, safety and other requirements enacted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Labor and other federal and state agencies. As discussed more fully under "Operational Risks," the NRC extensively regulates nuclear power plants, including Wolf Creek. The costs of complying with existing, new or modified regulations, standards and other requirements could have a material adverse effect on the results of operations, financial position and cash flows of the Evergy Companies. Furthermore, regulatory changes could result in operational changes that increase costs or adversely impact the Evergy Companies' prospects. In addition, failure to meet quality of service, reliability, cybersecurity, critical infrastructure protection, operational or other standards and requirements could expose the Evergy Companies to penalties, additional compliance costs or adverse rate consequences, any of which could have a material adverse impact on their results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

Environmental Risks:

Costs to comply with environmental laws and regulations, including those relating to GHG emissions, are significant and may adversely impact operations and financial results.

The Evergy Companies are subject to extensive and evolving federal, state and local environmental laws, regulations and permit requirements relating to air and water quality, waste management and hazardous substance disposal, protected natural resources (such as wetlands, endangered species and other protected wildlife) and health and safety. For example, Evergy Kansas Central, Evergy Metro and Evergy Missouri West combust large amounts of fossil fuels in the production of electricity, which results in significant emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other GHGs. Federal legislation regulates the emission of GHGs and numerous states and regions have adopted programs to stabilize or reduce GHG emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) regulate emissions under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAA), water under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and waste management under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), among other laws and regulations. See Note 15 to the consolidated financial statements for additional information.

Compliance with these laws, regulations and requirements requires significant capital and operating resources, and the failure to comply could result in substantial fines, injunctive relief and other sanctions. In addition, there is a risk of lawsuits alleging violations of environmental laws, regulations or requirements, claiming creation of a public nuisance or other matters, and seeking injunctions or monetary damages or other relief.

Environmental permits are subject to periodic renewal, which may result in more stringent permit conditions and limits. New facilities, or modifications of existing facilities, may require new environmental permits or amendments to existing permits. Delays in the environmental permitting process, public opposition and challenges, denials of permit applications, limits or conditions imposed in permits and the associated uncertainty may materially adversely affect the cost and timing of projects, and thus materially adversely affect the results of operations, financial position and cash flows of the Evergy Companies. In addition, compliance with environmental laws, regulations and requirements could alter the way assets are managed, which in turn could result in retiring assets earlier than expected, recording asset retirement obligations (AROs) or having a regulator disallow recovery of costs that had been prudently incurred in connection with those assets.

Costs of compliance with environmental laws, regulations and requirements, or fines, penalties or negative lawsuit outcomes, if not recovered in rates from customers, could have a material adverse effect on the results of operations, financial position and cash flows of the Evergy Companies.

Financial Risks:

Financial market disruptions or declines in the Evergy Companies' credit ratings may increase financing costs and limit access to the credit markets, which may adversely affect liquidity and financial results.

The Evergy Companies rely on funds from operations and access to the capital and credit markets to fund capital expenditures and for working capital and liquidity. Disruption in capital or credit markets, increases in interest rates, deterioration in the financial condition of the financial institutions on which the Evergy Companies rely, credit rating downgrades, a decrease in the market price of Evergy's common stock or a decrease or disappearance in the demand for debt securities issued by the Evergy Companies or subsidiaries could have material adverse effects on the Evergy Companies. These effects could include, among others: reduced access to capital and increased cost of borrowed funds and collateral requirements; dilution resulting from equity issuances at reduced prices; increased nuclear decommissioning trust and pension and other post-retirement benefit plan funding requirements; reduced ability to pay dividends; rate case disallowance of costs of capital; reductions in or delays of capital expenditures; and limitations in the ability of Evergy to provide credit support for its subsidiaries. Further, Evergy Kansas Central and Evergy Metro have outstanding tax-exempt bonds that may be put back to the respective issuer at the option of the holders, which could adversely impact liquidity. In addition, market disruption and volatility could have an adverse impact on Evergy's lenders, suppliers and other counterparties or customers, causing them to fail to meet their obligations.

Evergy is a holding company and relies on the earnings of its subsidiaries to meet its financial obligations.

Evergy is a holding company with no significant operations of its own. The primary source of funds for payment of dividends to its shareholders and its other financial obligations is dividends paid to it by its direct subsidiaries, particularly Evergy Kansas Central, Evergy Metro and Evergy Missouri West. Evergy's subsidiaries are separate legal entities and have no obligation to provide Evergy with funds. The ability of Evergy's subsidiaries to pay dividends or make other distributions, and accordingly, Evergy's ability to pay dividends on its common stock and meet its financial obligations, principally depends on the earnings and cash flows, capital requirements and general financial position of its subsidiaries, as well as regulatory factors, financial covenants, general business conditions and other matters.

In addition, the Evergy Companies are subject to certain corporate and regulatory restrictions and financial covenants that could affect their ability to pay dividends. Under the Federal Power Act, Evergy Kansas Central, Evergy Metro and Evergy Missouri West generally can pay dividends only out of retained earnings. In connection with approval of the merger in Missouri, each of Evergy Metro and Evergy Missouri West agreed to not pay dividends to Evergy if its credit rating falls below BBB- for S&P Global Ratings or Baa3 for Moody's Investor Services. In connection with approval of the merger in Kansas, each of Evergy Kansas Central and Evergy Metro agreed to not pay dividends to Evergy if (i) the payment would result in an increase in the utility's debt level (excluding short-term debt and debt due within one year) above 60 percent of its total capitalization, absent approval from the KCC or (ii) if its credit rating falls below BBB- for S&P Global Ratings or Baa3 for Moody's Investor Services. As described elsewhere in this Form 10-K, the Evergy Companies are also required to maintain a

consolidated indebtedness to consolidated total capitalization ratio of not more than 0.65 to 1.00, which could restrict the amount of dividends the Evergy Companies are permitted to pay. Evergy cannot guarantee dividends will be paid in the future or that, if paid, dividends will satisfy announced targets or investor expectations or be paid with the same frequency as in the past.

In addition, from time to time Evergy may guarantee debt obligations of its subsidiaries. Under the financing agreements to which Evergy is a party, a guarantee of debt may be considered indebtedness for purposes of complying with financial covenants that dictate the extent to which Evergy can borrow money, and any guarantee payments could adversely affect Evergy's liquidity and ability to service its own debt obligations.

Increasing costs associated with defined benefit retirement and postretirement plans, health care plans and other employee benefits could adversely affect Evergy's financial position and liquidity.

Evergy maintains defined benefit retirement and other post-retirement employee benefit plans for certain current and former employees. The costs of these plans depend on a number of factors, including the rates of return on plan assets, the level and nature of the provided benefits, discount rates, the interest rates used to measure required minimum funding levels, changes in benefit design, changes in laws or regulations and the amount of any required or voluntary contributions to the plans. The Evergy Companies have substantial unfunded liabilities under these plans. Also, if the rate of retirements exceeds planned levels, these plans experience adverse market returns on investments or interest rates fall, required or voluntary contributions to the plans could be material. In addition, changes in accounting rules and assumptions related to future costs, returns on investments, interest rates and other actuarial assumptions, including projected retirements, could have a significant adverse impact on the results of operations, financial position and cash flows of the Evergy Companies.

The costs of providing health care benefits to employees and retirees have increased in recent years and may continue to rise in the future. Future legislative changes related to health care could also cause significant changes to benefit programs and costs. The increasing costs associated with health care plans could have a significant adverse impact on the results of operations, financial position and cash flows of the Evergy Companies.

The use of derivative contracts could result in financial losses and impair liquidity.

The Evergy Companies use derivative instruments, such as swaps, options, futures and forwards, to manage commodity and financial risks. Losses could be recognized as a result of volatility in the market values of these contracts, if a counterparty fails to perform or if the underlying transactions, which the derivative instruments are intended to hedge, fail to materialize. The valuation of these financial instruments can involve management's judgment or the use of estimates. As a result, changes in the underlying assumptions or use of alternative valuation methods could affect the reported fair value of these contracts.

Tax legislation and an inability to utilize tax credits could adversely impact financial results and liquidity.

Tax laws and regulations can adversely affect, among other things, financial results, liquidity, credit ratings and the valuation of assets, such as deferred income tax assets. Over the last several years, income tax obligations have been reduced due to the use of bonus depreciation provisions that allow for an acceleration of deductions for tax purposes and IRS guidance on tax deductions for repairs. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) eliminates bonus depreciation for regulated utilities on new capital investments. The Evergy Companies regularly assess their ability to utilize tax benefits, including those in the form of net operating loss, tax credit and other tax carryforwards, that are recorded as deferred income tax assets on its balance sheets to determine whether a valuation allowance is necessary. A reduction in, or disallowance of, these tax benefits could have an adverse impact on the financial results and liquidity of the Evergy Companies. Additionally, changes in corporate tax rates or policy changes, such as those resulting from the TCJA, as well as any inability to generate enough taxable income in the future to utilize all tax benefits before they expire, could have an adverse impact on the financial results and liquidity of the Evergy Companies.

In addition, the Evergy Companies construct and operate renewable energy facilities that generate tax credits that reduce federal income tax obligations. The amount of tax credits is dependent on several factors, including the amount of electricity produced and the applicable tax credit rate. A variety of operating and economic parameters, including transmission constraints, adverse weather conditions and breakdown or failure of equipment, could

significantly reduce these tax credits, which could have an adverse impact on the financial results of the Evergy Companies.

The anticipated benefits of the merger may not be realized.

The Evergy Companies have incurred, and expect to incur additional, significant costs associated with combining the operations of Great Plains Energy and Evergy Kansas Central. Additional unanticipated costs may also be incurred in the integration of the businesses of Great Plains Energy and Evergy Kansas Central. The Evergy Companies expect the merger to produce various benefits, including, among other things, operating efficiencies and cost savings. However, achieving the anticipated benefits is subject to a number of uncertainties, including:

•	the ability to efficiently and effectively combine operations of the merged companies;

•	general market and economic conditions;

•	general competitive factors in the marketplace; and

•	higher than expected costs required to achieve the anticipated benefits of the merger.

No assurance can be given that these benefits will be achieved or achieved in a timely manner. Integration costs could have a material adverse impact on the results of the Evergy Companies, and a failure to achieve the anticipated benefits of the merger could have a material adverse effect on the results of operations, financial position and cash flows of the Evergy Companies. In addition, the Evergy Companies may encounter difficulties in integrating the operations of the companies, including inconsistencies in standards, systems and controls, and management's focus and resources may be diverted from ordinary business activities and opportunities in order to focus on integration efforts. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on the Evergy Companies.

The price of Evergy common stock may experience volatility.

The price of Evergy common stock may be volatile. Some of the factors that could affect the price of Evergy common stock are Evergy's earnings; estimates or statements by the investment community; the ability of the Evergy Companies to implement their strategic plan or to realize the expected synergies and other benefits from the merger; the ability of Evergy to deploy capital; actions by regulators; and speculation in the press or investment community about the Evergy Companies' strategy, earnings per share or growth prospects, financial condition or results of operations. Individuals or entities, such as activist shareholders and special interest groups, may also seek to influence the Evergy Companies' strategic plan or take other actions that could disrupt the Evergy Companies' business, financial results or operations and could adversely impact Evergy's stock price. General market conditions and U.S. economic factors and political events unrelated to the performance of the Evergy may also affect Evergy's stock price. For these reasons, shareholders should not rely on historical trends in the price of Great Plains Energy or Evergy Kansas Central common stock to predict the price of Evergy's common stock or its financial results.

Evergy has recorded goodwill that could become impaired and adversely affect financial results**.**

As required by generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Evergy recorded a significant amount of goodwill on its balance sheet in connection with completion of the merger. Evergy assesses goodwill for impairment on an annual basis or whenever events or circumstances occur that would indicate a potential for impairment. If goodwill is deemed to be impaired, Evergy may be required to incur non-cash charges that could materially adversely affect its results of operations.

Customer and Weather-Related Risks:

Evergy's results of operations, financial position and cash flows can be materially affected by changes in electricity consumption.

Change in customer behaviors in response to energy efficiency programs, changing conditions and preferences or changes in the adoption of technologies could affect the consumption of energy by customers. Federal and state programs exist to influence the way customers use energy and regulators have mandates to promote energy efficiency. Conservation programs and customers' level of participation in the programs could impact the financial results of the Evergy Companies in adverse ways.

Technological advances, energy efficiency and other energy conservation measures have reduced and will continue to reduce customer electricity consumption. The Evergy Companies generate electricity at central station power plants to achieve economies of scale and produce electricity at a competitive cost. Self-generation and distributed generation technologies, including microturbines, wind turbines, fuel cells and solar cells, as well as those related to the storage of energy produced by these systems, have become economically competitive with the manner and price at which the Evergy Companies sell electricity. There is also a perception that generating or storing electricity through these technologies is more environmentally friendly than generating electricity with fossil fuels. Increased adoption of these technologies could reduce electricity demand and the pool of customers from whom fixed costs are recovered, resulting in under recovery of the fixed costs of the Evergy Companies. Increased self-generation and the related use of net energy metering, which allows self-generating customers to receive bill credits for surplus power, could put upward price pressure on remaining customers. If the Evergy Companies are unable to adjust to reduced electricity demand and increased self-generation and net energy metering, their financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Changes in customer electricity consumption due to sustained financial market disruptions, downturns or sluggishness in the economy or other factors may also adversely affect the results of operations, financial position and cash flows of the Evergy Companies.

Weather is a major driver of the results of operations, financial position and cash flows of the Evergy Companies and the Evergy Companies are subject to risks associated with climate change.

Weather conditions directly influence the demand for and price of electricity. The Evergy Companies are significantly impacted by seasonality, and, due to energy demand created by air conditioning load, highest revenues are typically recorded in the third quarter. Unusually mild winter or summer weather can adversely affect sales. In addition, severe weather and events, including tornados, snow, fire, rain, flooding and ice storms, can be destructive and cause outages and property damage that can result in increased expenses, lower revenues and additional capital restoration costs. Storm reserves established by the Evergy Companies may be insufficient and rates may not be adjusted in a timely manner, or at all, to recover these costs. Additionally, because many of the Evergy Companies' generating stations utilize water for cooling, low water and flow levels can increase maintenance costs at these stations, result in limited power production and require modifications to plant operations. High water conditions can also impair planned deliveries of fuel to generating stations. Climate change may produce more frequent or severe weather events, such as storms, droughts or floods and could also impact the economic health of Evergy's service territories. An increase in the frequency or severity of extreme weather events or a deterioration in the economic health of Evergy's service territories could have a material adverse effect on the results of operations, financial position and cash flows of the Evergy Companies.

In addition, policy, legal and regulatory efforts to influence climate change, such as efforts to reduce GHG emissions, impose a tax on emissions and create incentives for low-carbon generation and energy efficiency, could result in reduced sales and require significant costs to respond to such efforts. These efforts could also result in the early retirement of generation facilities, which could result in stranded costs if regulators disallow recovery of investments that were prudent when originally made. The Evergy Companies are targeting to achieve an 80% reduction of carbon emissions by 2050 from 2005 levels. The trajectory and timing of the goal could be impacted by various factors, including policy, legal or regulatory actions, a lack of technological advancements or other reasons. Any of the foregoing could adversely affect the results of operations, financial position and cash flows of the Evergy Companies and the market prices of Evergy's common stock.

Operational Risks:

Operational risks may adversely affect the Evergy Companies.

The operation of electric generation, transmission, distribution and information systems involves many risks, including breakdown or failure of equipment; aging infrastructure; operator error or contractor or subcontractor failure; problems that delay or increase the cost of returning facilities to service after outages; limitations that may be imposed by equipment conditions or environmental, safety or other regulatory requirements; fuel supply or fuel transportation reductions or interruptions; labor disputes; difficulties with the implementation or operation of

information systems; transmission scheduling constraints; and catastrophic events such as fires, floods, droughts, explosions, terrorism, severe weather, pandemics or other similar occurrences. Many of the Evergy Companies' generation, transmission and distribution resources are aged, which increases the risk of unplanned outages, reduced generation output and higher maintenance expense. Any equipment or system outage or constraint can, among other things, reduce sales, increase costs and affect the ability to meet regulatory service metrics, customer expectations and regulatory reliability and security requirements.

The Evergy Companies have general liability and property insurance to cover a portion of their facilities, but such policies do not cover transmission or distribution systems, are subject to certain limits and deductibles and do not include business interruption coverage. Insurance coverage may not be available in the future at reasonable costs or on commercially reasonable terms, and the insurance proceeds received for any loss of, or any damage to, any facilities may not be sufficient to restore the loss or damage.

These and other operating events may reduce revenues or increase costs, or both, and may materially affect the results of operations, financial position and cash flows of the Evergy Companies.

Physical and cybersecurity breaches, criminal activity, terrorist attacks and other disruptions to facilities or information technology infrastructure could interfere with operations, expose the Evergy Companies or their customers or employees to a risk of loss, expose the Evergy Companies to legal or regulatory liability and cause reputational and other harm.

The Evergy Companies rely upon information technology networks and systems to process, transmit and store electronic information, and to manage or support a variety of business processes and activities, including the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, supply chain functions and the invoicing and collection of payments from customers. The Evergy Companies also use information technology networks and systems to record, process and summarize financial information and results of operations for internal reporting purposes and to comply with financial reporting, legal and tax requirements. These networks and systems are in some cases owned or managed by third-party service providers. In the ordinary course of business, the Evergy Companies collect, store and transmit sensitive data including operating information, proprietary business information and personal information belonging to customers and employees.

The Evergy Companies' information technology networks and infrastructure, as well as the networks and infrastructure belonging to third-party service providers are vulnerable to damage, disruptions or shutdowns due to attacks or breaches by hackers or other unauthorized third parties; error or malfeasance by one or more employees or service providers; software or hardware upgrades; additions or replacements; malicious software code; telecommunication failures; natural disasters or other catastrophic events. The occurrence of any of these events could, among other things, impact the reliability or safety of the Evergy Companies' generation, transmission and distribution systems; result in the erasure of data or render the Evergy Companies' equipment, or the equipment of third-party service providers, unusable; impact the Evergy Companies' ability to conduct business in the ordinary course; reduce sales; expose the Evergy Companies and their customers, employees and vendors to a risk of loss or misuse of information; and result in legal claims or proceedings, liability or regulatory penalties, damage the Evergy Companies' reputation or otherwise harm their business. The Evergy Companies can provide no assurance that they will be able to identify and remediate all security or system vulnerabilities or that unauthorized access or error will be identified and remediated.

The Evergy Companies are subject to laws and rules issued by multiple government agencies concerning safeguarding and maintaining the confidentiality of their security, customer and business information. For example, NERC has issued comprehensive regulations and standards surrounding the security of bulk power systems and is continually in the process of developing updated and new requirements with which the utility industry must comply. The NRC also has issued regulations and standards related to the protection of critical digital assets at nuclear power plants. Compliance with NERC and NRC rules and standards, and rules and standards promulgated by other regulatory agencies from time to time or future legislation, will increase the Evergy Companies' compliance costs and their exposure to the potential risk of violations of these rules, standards or future legislation, which includes potential financial penalties. Furthermore, the non-compliance of other utilities with applicable regulations or the

occurrence of a serious security event at other utilities could result in increased regulation or oversight, both of which could increase the Evergy Companies' costs and impact their financial results.

Additionally, the Evergy Companies cannot predict the impact that any future information technology or malicious attack may have on the energy industry in general. The electric utility industry, both within the United States and internationally, has experienced physical and cybersecurity attacks on energy infrastructure such as power plants, substations and related assets in the past, and there will likely be more attacks in the future. The Evergy Companies' facilities and systems could be direct targets or indirect casualties of such attacks. The effects of such attacks could include disruption to the Evergy Companies' generation, transmission and distribution systems or to the electrical grid in general, reduced sales and could increase the cost of insurance coverage or result in a decline in the U.S. economy. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse impact on the Evergy Companies' operations or financial results.

The cost and schedule of capital projects may materially change and expected performance may not be achieved.

The Evergy Companies' business is capital intensive and includes significant construction projects. The risks of any capital project include: actual costs may exceed estimated costs; regulators may disallow, limit or delay the recovery of all or part of the cost of, or a return on, a capital project; risks associated with the capital and credit markets to fund projects; delays in receiving, or failure to receive, necessary permits, approvals and other regulatory authorizations; unforeseen engineering problems or changes in project design or scope; the failure of suppliers and contractors to perform as required under their contracts; inadequate availability or increased cost of labor or materials, including commodities such as steel, copper and aluminum that may be subject to uncertain or increased tariffs; inclement weather; new or changed laws, regulations and requirements, including environmental and health and safety laws, regulations and requirements; and other events beyond the Evergy Companies' control may occur that may materially affect the schedule, cost and performance of these projects.

These and other risks could cause the Evergy Companies to defer or limit capital expenditures, materially increase the costs of capital projects, delay the in-service dates of projects, adversely affect the performance of the projects and require the purchase of electricity on the wholesale market, at potentially more expensive prices, until the projects are completed. These risks may significantly affect the Evergy Companies' results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

The Evergy Companies are exposed to risks associated with the ownership and operation of a nuclear generating unit, which could adversely impact the Evergy Companies' business and financial results.

Evergy indirectly owns 94% of Wolf Creek, with Evergy Kansas South and Evergy Metro each owning 47% of the nuclear plant. The NRC has broad authority under federal law to impose licensing and safety-related requirements for the operation of nuclear generation facilities, including Wolf Creek. In the event of non-compliance, the NRC has the authority to impose fines, shut down the facilities, or both, depending upon its assessment of the severity of the situation, until compliance is achieved. Additionally, the non-compliance of other nuclear facility operators with applicable regulations or the occurrence of a serious nuclear incident anywhere in the world could result in increased regulation of the nuclear industry. Such events could increase Wolf Creek's costs and impact the financial results of the Evergy Companies or result in a shutdown of Wolf Creek.

An extended outage of Wolf Creek, whether resulting from NRC action, an incident at the plant or otherwise, could have a material adverse effect on the results of operations, financial position and cash flows of the Evergy Companies in the event replacement power and other costs are not recovered through rates or insurance. If a long-term outage occurred, the state regulatory commissions could reduce rates by excluding the Wolf Creek investment from rate base. Wolf Creek was constructed prior to 1986 and the age of Wolf Creek increases the risk of unplanned outages and results in higher maintenance costs.

On an annual basis, Evergy Kansas South and Evergy Metro are required to contribute money to tax-qualified trusts that were established to pay for decommissioning costs at the end of the unit's life. The amount of contributions varies depending on estimates of decommissioning expenses and projected return on trust assets. If the actual return on trust assets is below the projected level or actual decommissioning costs are higher than estimated, Evergy

Kansas South and Evergy Metro could be responsible for the balance of funds required and may not be allowed to recover the balance through rates.

The Evergy Companies are also exposed to other risks associated with the ownership and operation of a nuclear generating unit, including, but not limited to, (i) potential liability associated with the potential harmful effects on the environment and human health resulting from the operation of a nuclear generating unit, (ii) the storage, handling, disposal and potential release (by accident, through third-party actions or otherwise) of radioactive materials and (iii) uncertainties with respect to contingencies and assessments if insurance coverage is inadequate. Under the structure for insurance among owners of nuclear generating units, Evergy Kansas South and Evergy Metro are also liable for potential retrospective premium assessments (subject to a cap) per incident at any commercial reactor in the country and losses in excess of insurance coverage.

In addition, Wolf Creek is reliant on a sole supplier for fuel and related services. The supplier has in the past been the subject of Chapter 11 reorganization proceedings, and an extended outage of Wolf Creek could occur if the supplier is not able to perform under its contracts with Wolf Creek. Switching to another supplier could take an extended amount of time and would require NRC approval. An extended outage at Wolf Creek could affect the amount of Wolf Creek investment included in customer rates and could have a material impact on the Evergy Companies' financial results.

The structure of the regional power market in which the Evergy Companies operate could have an adverse effect on their results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

Evergy Kansas Central, Evergy Metro and Evergy Missouri West are members of the SPP regional transmission organization, and each has transferred operational authority (but not ownership) of their transmission facilities to the SPP. The SPP's Integrated Marketplace determines which generating units among market participants should run, within the operating constraints of a unit, at any given time for maximum cost-effectiveness. In the event that Evergy Kansas Central's, Evergy Metro's or Evergy Missouri West's generating units are not among the lowest cost generating units operating within the market, each could experience decreased levels of wholesale electricity sales.

A market for Transmission Congestion Rights (TCR) is also included as part of the Integrated Marketplace. TCRs are financial instruments used to hedge transmission congestion charges. Evergy Kansas Central, Evergy Metro and Evergy Missouri West acquire TCRs for the purpose of hedging against transmission congestion charges. There is a risk that the entities could incorrectly model the amount of TCRs needed, or that the TCRs acquired could be ineffective in hedging against transmission congestion charges, either of which could lead to increased purchased power costs.

The rules governing the various regional power markets, including the SPP, may change from time to time and such changes could impact the costs and revenues of the Evergy Companies.

Litigation Risks:

The outcome of legal proceedings cannot be predicted. An adverse finding could have a material adverse effect on the Evergy Companies' results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

The Evergy Companies are parties to various lawsuits and regulatory proceedings in the ordinary course of their respective businesses. The outcome of these matters cannot be determined, nor, in many cases, can the liability that could potentially result from each case be reasonably estimated. The liability that the Evergy Companies may incur with respect to any of these cases may be in excess of amounts currently accrued and insured against with respect to such matters and could adversely impact the financial results for the Evergy Companies.