Topeka, Kansas Power Outage Today

How reliable is Evergy service in Topeka?

Evergy is an investor-owned utility with 392,397 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 1.65 interruptions and 318 minutes (about 5.3 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 3.2 hours.

About 68% of that time came on major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately. On ordinary days the average falls to 102 minutes. A handful of severe-weather days, not everyday faults, set this utility’s year.

The typical outage was repaired in about 3.2 hours.

For comparison, Kansas as a whole averaged 286 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That is close to the state average.

Among the 15 utilities in Kansas with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Evergy ranks 10th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 33% of the 926 utilities of that size reported more outage minutes in 2024.

These are the figures the utility itself reported to the US Energy Information Administration (Form EIA-861, 2024) and describe the whole service territory, not one street. Your own address can be better or worse.

Storm season and outages in Topeka

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 433 storm reports for Shawnee County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (245), hail (124), flash flood (52), and tornado (8). The busiest full year was 2024 with 63 reports and the quietest was 2025 with 6, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in June (118 since 2015), followed by July and April. October is outside those three months, so an outage now is less likely to be weather-related.

NOAA’s own narratives name power outages in 1 storm episode in Shawnee County since 2015. That count is a floor, since the database records outages only when a spotter or agency mentions them.

What the most common storm types in Topeka do to the grid:

• Thunderstorm wind. Straight-line wind pushes trees and limbs into distribution lines. These outages are usually local, a street or a neighborhood at a time, and crews clear them circuit by circuit.
• Hail. Hail rarely cuts power by itself, but it often arrives with the wind and lightning that do, and it breaks solar panels, windshields and exposed utility equipment.
• Flash flood. Floodwater reaches ground-level transformers, meters and low-lying substations. Utilities may shut power off ahead of the water on purpose, and wading near flooded equipment can electrocute.

Storm reports that name Topeka

Within Shawnee County, 79 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Topeka as their location or in their description: thunderstorm wind (51), hail (14), flash flood (13), and tornado (1). That is about 18% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Topeka are most common in June. The busiest full year was 2016 with 13.

Who a power outage hits hardest in Topeka

71% of occupied homes in Topeka are heated with piped natural gas, and 25.8% with electricity (US 41.3% electric). A gas furnace still needs electricity for its blower and ignition, so a long winter outage leaves these homes cold too, though a gas supply stays on when the grid fails. Never heat a home with an oven, grill or camp stove indoors.

Residents aged 65 or older are 18.4% of the population in Topeka, close to the US share of 17.2% and 17.3% report a disability (US 13.3%). These are the households most likely to depend on powered medical equipment such as oxygen concentrators, CPAP machines and refrigerated medicine. If someone in your home does, ask Evergy whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 53.7% of the housing in Topeka was built before 1970 (US 35.5%), and older neighborhoods often have overhead service lines and mature trees close to the wires, which makes them more exposed to storm outages.

Median household income in Topeka is $56,956, below the Kansas figure of $74,275. For many households, replacing a freezer of spoiled food or paying for a hotel during a long outage is a real hardship; dialing 211 connects to local shelters, warming or cooling centers and utility assistance programs.

Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 (housing, heating fuel, age and disability tables).

Backup power and electricity use in Topeka

The average Evergy home used about 846 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 1.2 kW around the clock, and paid about 14.3 cents per kWh (14.1 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $121 a month.

Keeping only the essentials on (a refrigerator, router, a few lights and phone chargers, about 400 watts) through an outage that lasts the average about 3.2 hours takes about 1.3 kWh. A portable power station or a power bank covers that; a generator is more than most households here need for a typical outage.

A generator must never run indoors, in a garage or near a window; generator and food-safety rules are in the power outage guide linked below.

If the power is out in Topeka

About 125,310 people live in Topeka, the 5th largest of the 5 Kansas cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Evergy’s outage map for an estimate. If neighbors have power and you do not, report it again: the fault may be on the line to your house alone, which is a separate repair.

Topeka power outage map

Evergy’s outage map has the official restoration estimate for your address; the count above comes from residents. Food and generator safety: power outage guide.

Topeka power outage questions