Kansas City, Missouri Power Outage Today

How reliable is Evergy service in Kansas City?

Evergy is an investor-owned utility with 311,001 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 1.87 interruptions and 402 minutes (about 6.7 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 3.6 hours.

About 74% of that time came on major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately. On ordinary days the average falls to 104 minutes. A handful of severe-weather days, not everyday faults, set this utility’s year.

The typical outage was repaired in about 3.6 hours.

For comparison, Missouri as a whole averaged 224 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Evergy above the state average.

Among the 32 utilities in Missouri with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Evergy ranks 29th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 26% 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 Kansas City

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 542 storm reports for Jackson County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (305), hail (136), flash flood (70), and tornado (18). The busiest full year was 2025 with 102 reports and the quietest was 2022 with 13, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in June (137 since 2015), followed by July and May. 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 15 storm episodes in Jackson County since 2015, most often in June. 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 Kansas City 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Storm reports that name Kansas City

Within Jackson County, 124 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Kansas City as their location or in their description: thunderstorm wind (58), flash flood (33), hail (24), and tornado (4). That is about 23% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Kansas City are most common in June. The busiest full year was 2015 with 29. These reports record 1 death and 13 injuries in total.

In NOAA’s own words, storms that left Kansas City without power:

• June 5, 2020 (thunderstorm wind): “NWS Employee estimated 60 mph wind gust and power outage in the Waldo neighborhood of Kansas City.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database
• June 12, 2019 (thunderstorm wind): “Power outages across Kansas City were reported via Spotter Network after strong winds passed through.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database
• September 10, 2015 (thunderstorm wind): “Several reports from Kansas City Fire Department of tree limbs falling on to power lines south and east of the downtown Kansas City area.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database

Who a power outage hits hardest in Kansas City

67.1% of occupied homes in Kansas City are heated with piped natural gas, and 30.1% 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 14.3% of the population in Kansas City, close to the US share of 17.2% and 13.4% 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: 51.5% of the housing in Kansas City 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.

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

Backup power and electricity use in Kansas City

The average Evergy home used about 798 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 1.1 kW around the clock, and paid about 13.7 cents per kWh (12.9 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $109 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 3.6 hours takes about 1.4 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 Kansas City

About 508,090 people live in Kansas City, the largest of the 5 Missouri 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.

Kansas City 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.

Kansas City power outage questions