News Releases

Kansas City, MO – January 4, 2024 – Evergy has restored power to 85 percent of customers affected by Monday night’s storm. As of 5 p.m., about 15,000 customers are still without power, with 5,000 in Kansas and 10,000 in Missouri.  

As the storm moved through our service area during the day, crews were restoring power in one area, while we were experiencing new outages in other areas. From 4 a.m. to noon, we had an average of about 150 new outage events per hour, resulting in about 10,500 new customers without power each hour.

In Hutchinson and Wichita, outage numbers were highest early this morning with about 2,000 out in Hutchinson and 13,000 in Wichita. This evening about 500 customers in Hutchinson and 2,000 in the Wichita area are still without power. In the Kansas City metro area, outage numbers were highest with about 25,000 customers out mid-morning. As of this evening, about 8500 customers in the KC metro area are out. 

Outages today have been largely a result of 50 mph winds combined with snow weighing down trees in some areas. Most of the repairs involved clearing vegetation and then replacing broken power lines and fixing switches and related equipment. Many of these work sites are in alleyways and other locations that are difficult to access. Poor conditions and low visibility have slowed down restoration efforts.

We have 1,500 employees and contractors, including line and vegetation crews, working on storm restoration efforts. Liberty Utilities, which serves parts of southeast Kansas and southwest Missouri, has sent crews to assist. We also have crews coming in from Nebraska and other areas of Missouri. Internally, crews from areas that weren’t impacted are assisting in communities with more outages.

Customers can report outages by downloading the Evergy app, going to the Evergy website, or calling 800-LIGHT-KS (800) 544-4857 in Kansas, or 888-LIGHT-KC (888) 544-4852 in Missouri.

People may see Evergy cars and trucks in neighborhoods assessing damage so that line crews have the needed equipment when they arrive. Please let the crews work safely so they can restore power.

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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:     
Courtney Lewis       
Sr. Communications Manager, Media     
Phone: 816-878-9650
courtney.lewis@evergy.com    
Media Line: 888-613-0003