HUTCHINSON, Kan. — As with most emergency preparedness agencies, Evergy is also waiting to see what Wednesday's windy forecast could bring.
“We do suspect that with 70 mile per hour winds if they do actually come through the area , we may experience some power outages,” Company Spokesperson Gina Penzig said. “We have crews that are ready to respond if they can safely do so.”
Sometimes a power outage is not related to Evergy but you own home service. Home owners also need to be prepared to make sure nothing can fall on the service line running from Evergy’s transmission line to the home.
“If trees need to be trimmed away from that line that is the responsibility of the property owner to do that,” Penzig said. “What we will see is that if something brings that line down it will do damage to the equipment that is attached to your home.”
If that happens, the homeowner will need an electrician to come out and make the necessary repairs. While power outages are almost inevitable with strong winds, Penzig says that the company tries to take a proactive approach to dealing with possible outages by keeping the electric grid up to date.
“A lot of our ongoing maintenance..is what we do to prepare for storms and weather conditions,” Penzig said. “That includes upgrading facilities, making sure trees are trimmed away from lines.”
The company has also installed automation to help deal with outages and doubled the number of service lines coming into the city to keep service up and running.
Penzig says that if you have an outage you can go online at evergy.com or call 1-888-544-4852. Penzig also wants to stress that if you come upon a downed power, always assume that it is energized and stay at least ten feet away from the downed line.
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