News Releases

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – July 15, 2023 – By 5 p.m. Saturday, power had been restored to 75 percent of customers affected by the Friday afternoon thunderstorms that moved across large portions of Evergy’s service area and caused significant power outages. Evergy expects power to be restored to all customers in Topeka and Lawrence by Sunday night. In some areas of the Kansas City metro, outages may last into next week.

As of 5 p.m. Saturday, about 52,500 customers are without power. In areas where restoration is taking the longest, crews are finding that downed trees in backyards and easements have to be cleared before repairs to restore power can be made.   

Evergy crews began restoring power early Friday afternoon as the first outages occurred Lightning, heavy rain and 80-100 mph winds contributed to widespread customer outages, peaking at 186,000 with nearly 240,000 total customers impacted over the course of the storms. Storms stretched from Salina to the Kansas City metro area and down into southeast Kansas. Crews have been working across our service area restoring power. As work completes in one area, crews are assigned to assist where outages remain.

“We appreciate customers’ patience and the hard work of our field personnel and contractors as power is restored,” said Chuck Caisley, senior vice president and chief customer officer. “This storm moved across a large portion of our service area and stalled in some areas resulting in the largest storm outage event since Evergy was formed from long-standing local energy providers KCP&L and Westar Energy.”

All available Evergy and contract line crews are working around the clock to restore power and will continue to work until power is restored to all customers. We have more than 2,000 Evergy employees and contractors in the field. An additional 1,000 personnel from neighboring utilities in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Nebraska and Oklahoma arrived or are arriving yet Saturday.

We are receiving many reports of trees in powerlines, poles and wires down. Assume that all downed power lines are live and stay away. Report downed lines to 911 and then to Evergy Central at 1-800-LIGHT-KS (1-800-544-4857) or Evergy Metro, West at 1-888-LIGHT-KC (1-888-544-4852). Customers can report and track outages on Evergy’s outage map or mobile app.

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 About Evergy, Inc. 
Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ: EVRG), serves 1.7 million customers in Kansas and Missouri. Evergy’s mission is to empower a better future. Our focus remains on producing, transmitting and delivering reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy for the benefit of our stakeholders. Today, about half of Evergy’s power comes from carbon-free sources, creating more reliable energy with less impact to the environment. We value innovation and adaptability to give our customers better ways to manage their energy use, to create a safe, diverse and inclusive workplace for our employees, and to add value for our investors. Headquartered in Kansas City, our employees are active members of the communities we serve. 

Media Contact:     
Gina Penzig       
Manager, External Communications     
Phone: 785.575.8089
gina.penzig@evergy.com    
Media Line: 888-613-0003