Friday, December 17, 2021.
Outages have been restored. FreeState wishes to thank all members for their patience and understanding through the prolonged outages following the major wind event on Dec. 15. We also wish to thank our staff and linemen for their dedication and commitment to providing top-notch service to our members during this time.
Here is what we know as of 3 p.m. on Thursday, December 16, 2021.
Evergy is working to get the pole replacement completed. We do want to note that once that pole is up and we are able to reenergize, we may still have issues down the lines that could result in smaller line section outages. Although crews have been proactive today in trying to identify potential problem spots, it's hard to diagnose without energizing the lines. We ask that when power is restored, hang tight. We'll make sure you're aware of where we are in the process. We also still have some scattered isolated outages across our territory, including the Dover and Prairie substations where we await Evergy to replace a transmission pole on that side of our coverage area.
We'll keep you updated and we thank you for your patience!
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Here is what we know as of Noon on Thursday, December 16, 2021.
The Leavenworth substation is still off. FreeState crews have wrapped up pole replacement. Crews now wait until Evergy gets a major transmission pole replaced. Once that takes place we can restore power. We are confident this can happen this afternoon. We appreciate your patience.
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Here is what we know as of 8 a.m. on Thursday, December 16, 2021.
The Leavenworth substation is still off. FreeState crews have wrapped up pole replacement, however, Evergy will be sending a fresh crew up to the substation within the hour to get a major transmission pole replaced.
Once that pole is replaced we will be able to energize our substation and restore power. This is an Evergy project. FreeState cannot work on this infrastructure. FreeState crews can only work on FreeState infrastructure.
FreeState does have several isolated line section outages and crews continue to work on those across the area. These are caused by tree damage.
FreeState sent the first wave of crews home this morning at 7 a.m. after a 25-hour workday. We brought in fresh crews this morning at 7 a.m. to pick up where last night's restoration left off. They have hit the ground running!
Please stay tuned to Facebook and our website for any other information. We'll get you back on as soon as we can.
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On December 15, 2021, a major weather event swept through the FreeState service territory knocking out power to as many as 4,500 members.
Here is what we know as of 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 15, 2021.
Leavenworth Substation was heavily impacted. Mulitple transmission poles were damaged, and power supplier, Evergy, lost a major infrastructure pole. These repairs will take an extended amount of time to repair. FreeState hopes power will be restored by Thursday, December 16, 2021.
Power Supplier Evergy has transmission line damage and poles broken in other areas including the southern and west areas of the FreeState territory. As a distribution cooperative we cannot provide power that is not there. We are working with Evergy to gather more information as to when restoration can be expected, but as of publish time no information was available.
FreeState does have several isolated line section outages. These are caused by tree damage. The crews are getting to these as they can and making repairs to get as many members back on as possible.
Here are some tips to deal with extended outages:
- Have a back-up plan for life support equipment if you have it.
- Remember, food will stay colder longer if you keep the refrigerator closed during the outage.
- Unplug sensitive electronics such as computers and televisions.
- Keep a flashlight with extra batteries in a convenient place.
- Inform FreeState if you have a generator and do not use it unless you're sure it was installed safely. An incorrectly installed generator can damage your property and endanger you and FreeState line workers who may be working on nearby powerlines.
Please know that FreeState crews are doing the best we can to get outages restored. This has been an all hands on deck situation. The safety of our crews is a priority during these challenging conditions. Please remain patient and we do thank you for your support.
Below are updates that were provided to members via Facebook.
Update 6:40 a.m. We will be waiting for some light to do some additional assessments, but we are making progress. We are working on smaller outages and we do have other outages that will require some pole replacements. We are also working on assessing what we know we can get on today, and what we will need to work with Evergy to get restored. Thanks for your patience. We have had crews out all night, and we have a few new crews coming in this morning to continue working.
Update 5:15 a.m. We are down to just over 1,000 still without power. Crews have worked overnight to continue restoration efforts. We will work on getting an update this morning and hopefully have an update within the next hour or so.
Update 11:22 p.m. We have about 2,200 members without power and we have provided a web update https://bit.ly/3E2acPz. We will post if anything pops up, but for right now we're working on it, we don't have any estimates on restoration time, and we really appreciate your patience.
Update 10:15 p.m. For members powered by the Leavenworth substation, Evergy has a major pole broken and we have multiple poles broken. This substation may take all night to restore.
Update 9:21 p.m. Crews are working on getting power restored. We are down to approximately 2,800 without power. Unfortunately, we have no estimate on time to restore. We have all of our crews out working and they are all across the territory. They will continue to work until everyone is restored. Keep in mind if you live in the Leavenworth area (Leavenworth substation) two crews are working on replacing four transmission poles. If you are served by Dover, Prairie, or Carbondale substations there are poles down and crews are working to replace those. Other outages involve trees and crews are working to get those restored. Thanks again for your patience. Our next update will likely be in a few hours unless something else comes up. We're going to let our crews do what they do!
Update 8:15 p.m. We have gotten a few folks restored, but we are still at 3,700 without power. Crews are getting after it working to get power back up and running. There are several poles that will need to be replaced and crews have started that process in several locations.
Update 7:45 p.m. Evergy has transmission poles that are down near the Leavenworth area. We have four transmission poles down near our Leavenworth substation. That will take some time to fix, but our crews are working now. We continue to monitor our crew assessments and will provide updates when we can. Thanks again for your patience.
Update 7:15 p.m. Outage count is up to 4,300+. We continue to work to make assessments and prioritize. All our crews are out working. Evergy is out working, too. All line crews and tree crews appreciate your patience (no matter what truck they drive), and a shout out to county dispatchers and first responders who are taking care of everyone tonight!
Update 6:40 p.m. Our Leavenworth substation is now off. We do have a crew assigned to address it.
Update 6 p.m. We have multiple crews out working tonight. Hang with us here. At this time we have no idea when power will be restored. We have outages across our territory. We have 3378 people without power right now. Please be prepared to be without power for some time. We will do our best to get you all restored and powered up as soon as we can. There is significant tree damage in our east district. This just takes more time to clear and restore. Our west district has (so far) six poles down. We also have our power supplier (Evergy) transmission line down that feeds multiple substations. We do appreciate your patience and know that we're doing what we can to get the lights back on.
Update 5:40 p.m. We are working on getting some information from the crews in the field. We are up to 1554 members without power. Most of the areas out at this time are in our West District. Delia, Kiro, K Sub, and Prairie subs.
Update 5:15 p.m. We have several outages ongoing right now. We're up to 750 members without power. A majority of our outages right now are on the western edge of our service territory. The biggest area without power is south of Delia down to Rossville, and over to Hoyt. This is due to an Evergy transmission outage. We have a crew assigned to this outage. We also have crews working near the Wabaunsee/Shawnee County line, north of Eskridge and over to near the Dover area. We have had reports of a pole and wire down off K-4 highway. We have other outages out as well, but they are smaller and more scattered throughout the territory. Please be patient as our crews do what they do, but they need to be safe. We want every one of our crews to go home tonight the same way they went out. Hang tight, and we'll do what we can to keep you updated as we anchor down and wait it out. Stay safe!
Updated 4:09 p.m. We do have reports of a pole down along K4 Highway. We are asking folks to avoid the areas. We are also seeing an outage for part of our Delia substation. Once we get more information we'll keep you updated. It could be kind of a long night, and we do appreciate your patience!
Updated 3:32 p.m. Here is a list of our current outages -
Tonganoxie area, SW Topeka area, west of Topeka, Oskaloosa area, and Stull area. These are primarily tree related as wind is knocking trees into lines. Remember you can find your district and substation by referring to your bill. Learn more at https://bit.ly/3E0yRnI.
We do have a few outages reported this afternoon. We have multiple crews out in the western part of our territory and they report wind and trees have been knocking out power. Right now we have very few isolated outages west of Topeka, but we'll keep you updated as we move through the evening. Stay safe!