Lesley Elwell Named Chief Human Resources Officer; Greg Greenwood Named Chief Strategy Officer

Evergy, Inc. (NYSE: EVRG) today announced Lesley Elwell will join the Company as Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer. In this role, Elwell will lead Evergy’s Human Resources organization, with an emphasis on talent strategy, employee engagement, organizational development and performance management. She will report to David Campbell, Evergy’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

“Lesley’s proven leadership will be invaluable to Evergy,” said David Campbell, Evergy President and Chief Executive Officer. “She brings deep expertise and experience in leadership development, change management, diversity and inclusion, organizational excellence, HR analytics and employee engagement. She has a demonstrated track record of driving high performance and I’m excited to have her join the Evergy team.”

Elwell joins Evergy with more than 25 years of experience holding human resources and operations leadership roles for large, publicly traded companies in consumer and business-to-business industries, including Walmart, DIRECTV and Sprint. Currently she serves as Chief People Officer at Kansas City-based JE Dunn, one of the largest commercial construction firms in the United States. In that role, she helped transform JE Dunn’s human resource function and developed a workforce strategy to align with key strategic business priorities.

“I can’t imagine a more exciting time to join Evergy,” Lesley Elwell said. “Over the next decade our company will experience a period of ongoing change given the innovative and evolving dynamics of our industry. I am honored to join the Evergy team as the company helps to lead the industry through this strategic transformation.”

Elwell currently serves on the Board of Directors at Starlight Theatre, Kansas City Global Design and Tecta America, a commercial nationwide roofing company. She holds a Master of Engineering Management from the University of Kansas and a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from Universidad Nacional Experimental Del Tachira in Venezuela.

Elwell succeeds Jerl Banning, who left the Company in May 2021.

In addition, Evergy announced today that Greg Greenwood, currently Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, has been named as Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer. Greenwood will continue to lead the Company’s Enterprise Analytics and Continuous Improvement departments and will work directly with David Campbell to provide strategic oversight on the Sustainability Transformation Plan through his anticipated departure and retirement in the middle of 2022. He then plans to transition to an advisory role following his retirement through early 2024.

“In his 30-year career with the company, Greg has delivered results in a broad set of leadership roles and he brings compelling insights and judgment to the key strategic issues that we face,” Campbell explained. “I look forward to working closely with him as our Chief Strategy Officer and subsequently taking advantage of his expertise as an advisor as we advance our Sustainability Transformation Plan.”

Sustainability Transformation Plan

Evergy’s STP was announced in August 2020. The plan honors prior regulatory and merger commitments made in connection with Evergy's formation, while furthering the company's focus on grid modernization, renewable energy investment and cost management. Under the STP, Evergy plans continued cost discipline coupled with increased system investment to enhance the customer experience and improve system resilience and reliability. These capital investments are expected to support 5% to 6% compounded annual rate base growth from 2019 to 2024, targeting EPS compounded annual growth of 6% to 8% over the same period, consistent with top-performing utilities.

About Evergy, Inc.

Evergy, Inc. (NYSE: EVRG) serves approximately 1.6 million customers in Kansas and Missouri. We were formed in 2018 when long-term local energy providers KCP&L and Westar Energy merged. We are a leader in renewable energy, supplying nearly half of the power we provide to homes and businesses from emission-free generation. We support our local communities where we live and work and strive to meet the needs of customers through energy savings and innovative solutions.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Certain Forward-looking Information

Statements made in this press release that are not based on historical facts are forward-looking, may involve risks and uncertainties, and are intended to be as of the date when made. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to Evergy’s strategic plan, including, without limitation, those related to earnings per share, dividend, operating and maintenance expense and capital investment goals; the outcome of legislative efforts and regulatory and legal proceedings; future energy demand; future power prices; plans with respect to existing and potential future generation resources; the availability and cost of generation resources and energy storage; target emissions reductions; and other matters relating to expected financial performance or affecting future operations. Forward-looking statements are often accompanied by forward-looking words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “expects,” “estimates,” “forecasts,” “should,” “could,” “may,” “seeks,” “intends,” “proposed,” “projects,” “planned,” “target,” “outlook,” “remain confident,” “goal,” “will” or other words of similar meaning. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information.

In connection with the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Evergy, Inc., Evergy Kansas Central, Inc. and Evergy Metro, Inc. (collectively, the Evergy Companies) are providing a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking information. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to: economic and weather conditions and any impact on sales, prices and costs; changes in business strategy or operations; the impact of federal, state and local political, legislative, judicial and regulatory actions or developments, including deregulation, re-regulation, securitization and restructuring of the electric utility industry; decisions of regulators regarding, among other things, customer rates and the prudency of operational decisions such as capital expenditures and asset retirements; changes in applicable laws, regulations, rules, principles or practices, or the interpretations thereof, governing tax, accounting and environmental matters, including air and water quality and waste management and disposal; the impact of climate change, including increased frequency and severity of significant weather events and the extent to which counterparties are willing to do business with, finance the operations of or purchase energy from the Evergy Companies due to the fact that the Evergy Companies operate coal-fired generation; prices and availability of electricity in wholesale markets; market perception of the energy industry and the Evergy Companies; the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on, among other things, sales, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity and cash flows, and also on operational issues, such as the availability and ability of the Evergy Companies’ employees and suppliers to perform the functions that are necessary to operate the Evergy Companies; changes in the energy trading markets in which the Evergy Companies participate, including retroactive repricing of transactions by regional transmission organizations (RTO) and independent system operators; financial market conditions and performance, including changes in interest rates and credit spreads and in availability and cost of capital and the effects on derivatives and hedges, nuclear decommissioning trust and pension plan assets and costs; impairments of long-lived assets or goodwill; credit ratings; inflation rates; the transition to a replacement for the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) benchmark interest rate; effectiveness of risk management policies and procedures and the ability of counterparties to satisfy their contractual commitments; impact of physical and cybersecurity breaches, criminal activity, terrorist attacks and other disruptions to the Evergy Companies’ facilities or information technology infrastructure or the facilities and infrastructure of third-party service providers on which the Evergy Companies rely; ability to carry out marketing and sales plans; cost, availability, quality and timely provision of equipment, supplies, labor and fuel; ability to achieve generation goals and the occurrence and duration of planned and unplanned generation outages; delays and cost increases of generation, transmission, distribution or other projects; the Evergy Companies’ ability to manage their transmission and distribution development plans and transmission joint ventures; the inherent risks associated with the ownership and operation of a nuclear facility, including environmental, health, safety, regulatory and financial risks; workforce risks, including those related to the Evergy Companies’ ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, maintain satisfactory relationships with their labor unions and manage costs of, or changes in, retirement, health care and other benefits; disruption, costs and uncertainties caused by or related to the actions of individuals or entities, such as activist shareholders or special interest groups, that seek to influence Evergy’s strategic plan, financial results or operations; the possibility that strategic initiatives, including mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, and long-term financial plans, may not create the value that they are expected to achieve in a timely manner or at all; difficulties in maintaining relationships with customers, employees, regulators or suppliers; and other risks and uncertainties.

This list of factors is not all-inclusive because it is not possible to predict all factors. Additional risks and uncertainties are discussed from time to time in current, quarterly and annual reports filed by the Evergy Companies with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Reports filed by the Evergy Companies with the SEC should also be read for more information regarding risk factors. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of the particular statement. The Evergy Companies undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

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