KC area residents faced frigid conditions as arctic blast forced additional outages
Rolling power outages in the midst of record-breaking cold sent Kansas City area residents scurrying for ways to keep warm Tuesday while area utility providers battled to keep the power grid from collapsing.
For the third day in a row, Kansas City saw the prolonged cold-blast set new records as temperatures at Kansas City International Airport fell to -13 degrees, breaking the previous record low for this date of -8 degrees set in 1979.
As if the cold wasn’t enough, at 6:15 a.m., the Southwest Power Pool Inc., which manages the electrical grid across more than a dozen states in the central and western United States, including the Kansas City area, declared an energy emergency. That led to local utilities turning to rolling blackouts across the metro that were said to last anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes.
That was a rude awakening for many Kansas Citians who had hoped that the rolling blackouts from the previous day would not be repeated.
Jeffrey Brown’s power went off around 9:30 a.m. He layered up in a sweater and jacket and positioned his camping chair in a spot of sunlight streaming through his apartment window, attempting to warm up.
Brown, 27, an employee at Commerce Bank, said his phone was dying as he tried to work from it, since his computer and Internet were out of commission. He let his boss know he had to miss a number of meetings because of the outage. They were understanding.
His dog, Mayor Jude Fauci Pfizer Belarosa Brown, was bundled up nearby in a blue knit sweater and puffy puppy jacket.
“I think what’s important is accountability,” Brown said. “They promised us 60 minutes max and so I would just say, I hope our leaders hold them accountable, or at least somebody is held accountable for kind of putting people out for this long because it shouldn’t happen.”
Evergy officials said the temporary emergency power outages were needed in an attempt to avoid a “catastrophic” uncontrolled blackout that could leave people without power for hours, if not longer.
As extreme cold weather blanketed the region, energy production faltered as it struggled to keep up with not just the cold, but the longevity of the severe weather. While stories of frozen wind turbines caught the most attention, nearly all energy production methods were freezing, even natural gas wells.
Evergy said that it initially had enough energy to supply customers without having to shut anyone off, but because the company is part of the Southwest Power Pool, which serves 17 states in the central U.S., they helped supply electricity to other states to make sure no single state was experiencing undue burden.
“This is the second time in Southwest Power Pool history, the second time in two days that they have done this because of unprecedented cold and extended extreme weather,” Chuck Caisley, Evergy senior vice president and chief customer officer, said during a news conference Tuesday morning.
At first, Evergy officials said the rolling blackouts could continue into the afternoon. But at 10:15 a.m., the order for controlled power outages was suspended. But for some, the power wasn’t restored right away.
At 12:30 p.m., the Southwest Power Pool downgraded the energy emergency, but said it anticipates that the level of the energy emergency could fluctuate over the next 48 hours due to a high demand and the persistent cold.
The Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Public Utilities said that roughly 4,600 of its customers were impacted by the outages, with most outages lasting 40 minutes.
“As of now, we’re back down to encouraging consumers to conserve and have ceased these interruptions of service,” said David E. Mehlhaff, the BPU’s chief communications officer. “We aren’t out of the woods yet for the next 48 hours as long as we are all dealing with these extreme temps.”
While Brown’s electricity returned at about 1:30 p.m., across town, Alexandria Darden, also 27, was still without power come early Tuesday afternoon.
She had woken up to ice forming on the inside of the windows and sliding glass door of her Kansas City apartment Tuesday morning.
The second-year law student at the University of Missouri - Kansas City, threw a paper stack of old court cases into her fireplace and lit them to keep warm.
After a fruitless trip to Walmart and Lowes looking for firewood, she returned home empty-handed at noon to an apartment that was 43 degrees and still powerless. So she packed up her two dogs and left for a friend’s house, where there was still electricity.
“I feel terrible for all the other families and other people who may not have the resources, or may not be able to leave and are just stuck,” Darden said.
At one point, the National Weather Service in Kansas City sought to bring levity to the discomfort of the cold by saying people shouldn’t be comparing the metro area to Alaska.
“Fairbanks, Alaska is currently 5 degrees while KC is -10 and our good friends in St Joseph have bottomed out at -21,” the weather service said on Twitter. “So, we are only 15 to 25 degrees colder!”
Although Southwest Power Pool has downgraded the energy emergency, it said it anticipates that the level of the energy emergency could fluctuate over the next 48 hours due to a high demand and the persistent cold.
Electricity was not the only energy source affected by the cold. Across the region, the subzero temperatures have sent the cost of natural gas skyrocketing as providers struggle with frozen well heads and intense demand. Astronomical price hikes are forcing small cities to reach deep into reserve funds and large utilities to warn of possible widespread gas outages.
Bigger customer bills will be next.
“It could be significant and it most likely wouldn’t be permanent, but it would be a temporary increase until we get through this,” said Fulton, Mo., spokesman Darin Wernig. The city council plans to hold an emergency meeting Tuesday night after officials warned the city could be forced to pay up to $900,000 more per day.
More than 1.4 million residential customers in Missouri and 872,000 in Kansas rely on natural gas. Crippling temperatures have placed the utilities that serve them in a situation with few parallels in recent memory — and caused some officials to plead for assistance.
As of mid-day Tuesday, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson had not declared a state of emergency related to the deep cold. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, however, declared a disaster on Sunday. The increase in natural gas costs will “eventually flow through to consumers, and increase monthly natural gas and electric bills,” her office warned.
Spire, which sells gas to most western Missouri households including in Kansas City, over the weekend said customer bills will likely rise. On Monday, the company said it was implementing an “emergency curtailment plan” in southwest Missouri and asked customers to reduce usage, but it wasn’t immediately clear what the plan includes.
The Star’s Katie Bernard, Jeanne Kuang and Jonathan Shorman contributed.
This story was originally published February 16, 2021 at 2:30 PM.
