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ORGANIZATION AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION (Policies)
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Principles of Consolidation
Principles of Consolidation
Westar Energy was determined to be the accounting acquirer in the merger and thus, the predecessor of Evergy. Therefore, Evergy's consolidated financial statements reflect the results of operations of Westar Energy for the three months ended March 31, 2018. Evergy had separate operations for the period beginning with the quarter ended June 30, 2018, and references to amounts for periods after the closing of the merger relate to Evergy. The results of Great Plains Energy's direct subsidiaries have been included in Evergy's results of operations from the date of the closing of the merger and thereafter.
Each of Evergy's, Westar Energy's and KCP&L's consolidated financial statements includes the accounts of their subsidiaries and variable interest entities (VIEs) of which they are the primary beneficiary. Undivided interests in jointly-owned generation facilities are included on a proportionate basis.  Intercompany transactions have been eliminated. The Evergy Companies assess financial performance and allocate resources on a consolidated basis (i.e., operate in one segment).
Certain changes in classification and corresponding reclassification of prior period data were made in Evergy's, Westar Energy's and KCP&L's unaudited consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income and unaudited statements of cash flows for comparative purposes. Evergy reflects the classifications of Westar Energy as the accounting acquirer in the merger. These reclassifications did not affect Evergy's, Westar Energy's or KCP&L's net income or Evergy's, Westar Energy's or KCP&L's cash flows from operations, investing or financing.
Fuel Inventory and Supplies
Fuel Inventory and Supplies
The Evergy Companies record fuel inventory and supplies at average cost.
Earnings Per Share
Earnings Per Share
To compute basic earnings per share (EPS), Evergy divides net income attributable to Evergy, Inc. by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding. Diluted EPS includes the effect of issuable common shares resulting from restricted share units (RSUs), performance shares and restricted stock. Evergy computes the dilutive effects of potential issuances of common shares using the treasury stock method.

New Accounting Standards
New Accounting Standards
Intangibles - Internal-Use Software
In August 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2018-15, Customer's Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract, which aligns the requirements for recording implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software. An entity in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract will need to determine which project stage (that is, preliminary project stage, application development stage or post-implementation stage) an implementation activity relates. Costs for implementation activities in the application development stage are recorded as a prepaid asset depending on the nature of the costs, while costs incurred during the preliminary project and post-implementation stages are expensed as the activities occur. Costs that are recorded to a prepaid asset are to be expensed over the term of the hosting arrangement. The new guidance is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019 and interim periods within those fiscal years. The new guidance can be applied either retrospectively or prospectively to all implementation costs incurred after the date of adoption. Early adoption is permitted. The Evergy Companies early adopted ASU No. 2018-15 prospectively as of January 1, 2019. The adoption of ASU No. 2018-15 did not have a material impact on the Evergy Companies.

Leases
In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases, which requires an entity that is a lessee to record a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for lease payments on the balance sheet for all leases with terms longer than 12 months.  Leases will be classified as either finance or operating, with classification affecting the pattern of expense recognition in the income statement.  Lessor accounting remains largely unchanged. In January 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-01, Leases: Land Easement Practical Expedient for Transition to Topic 842, which permits entities to elect an optional transition practical expedient to not evaluate, under Topic 842, land easements that exist or expired before the entity's adoption of Topic 842 and that were not previously accounted for as leases under Topic 840. In July 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-10, Codification Improvements to Topic 842, Leases, which updates narrow aspects of the guidance issued in ASU No. 2016-02. Also in July 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-11, Leases: Targeted Improvements, which provides an optional transition method that allows entities to initially apply Topic 842 at the adoption date and recognize a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings in the period of adoption without restating prior periods. In December 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-20, Leases: Narrow-Scope Improvements for Lessors, which is expected to reduce a lessor's implementation and ongoing costs associated with applying ASU No. 2016-02. In March 2019, the FASB issued ASU No. 2019-01, Leases: Codification Improvements, which clarifies certain lessor accounting and interim reporting requirements. ASU No. 2016-02 and the subsequent amendments are effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted, and requires a modified retrospective transition approach with an option to either adjust or not adjust comparative periods.
The Evergy Companies adopted the new guidance on January 1, 2019, without adjusting comparative periods for all leases existing as of January 1, 2019, by electing the optional transition method permitted by ASU No. 2018-11. As a result, Evergy, Westar Energy and KCP&L recorded an increase to assets and liabilities of approximately $110 million, $40 million and $80 million, respectively, as of January 1, 2019. Westar Energy and KCP&L have certain lease transactions between them for which the related assets and liabilities are eliminated at consolidated Evergy. The adoption of Topic 842 did not have a material impact on the Evergy Companies' consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income and there was no cumulative-effect adjustment recorded to the opening balance of retained earnings. The Evergy Companies also elected a practical expedient to forgo reassessing existing or expired contracts as leases to determine whether each is in scope of Topic 842 and to forgo reassessing lease classification for existing and expired leases.