Some Evergy customers may be without power for days after Wednesday storms, CEO says
Nearly 40,000 Evergy customers remained without electricity Thursday, the utility’s president said a day after storms caused widespread damage in Kansas and Missouri.
Some of those who lost power might have to wait days to get it back, said David Campbell, Evergy’s president and CEO, in a video conference streamed online Thursday afternoon.
The severe weather event Wednesday was one of the biggest in the company’s history, Campbell said from a North Kansas City, Missouri restoration site, dressed in a white hat and yellow vest. The storms blew through the Kansas and Missouri Wednesday night bringing winds up to 80 mph, according to the National Weather Service in Kansas City.
While over 1,000 workers spent the night attempting to restore electricity to customers, some of those in Evergy’s service territory will have to wait a few more days for power, Campbell said.
Wednesday’s storm covered a wide stretch of territory, affecting Evergy customers in the west and east of the company’s coverage. Around 75% of customers have had their power restored within 12 hours of the storm, but restoring power to all those affected will take time, Campbell said.
Topeka, Salina, Manhattan, the Kansas City metro area, and St. Joseph were hit the hardest, said Gina Penzig, a spokeswoman for the company.
“It’s almost address by address because so many trees were knocked down,” Campbell said.
The City of Springfield and Liberty Utilities agreed to assist Evergy in the restoration process later this afternoon, he said.
Evergy workers taking customer calls, removing trees and branches scattered by the winds and fixing power lines received multiple notes of appreciation from homes waiting to have their power restored.
“We appreciate everyone’s patience,” he said.
The Kansas City, Kansas Board of Public Utilities was reporting that 2,341 of its customers were without power, as of 6:30 a.m Thursday morning.
Independence Power & Light also reported that about 220 of its customers were without power earlier Thursday.
This story was originally published December 16, 2021 at 1:50 PM.
