OUTAGE TIME IS HALF WHAT IT WAS A YEAR AGO
It was all happy news, smiles and positive responses when Evergy officials presented an update on the reliability of electrical service in Platte City.
Evergy representatives updated the Platte County Commission on Monday, Sept. 18. Among those Evergy officials speaking to commissioners were Janet Waddell, senior customer solutions manager; Tim Jones, senior manager of the metro service center; and Justin Pippitt, manager of distribution systems engineering.
A push for reliability improvements to the electrical systems serving Platte City–which is home to the county courthouse and administration building–began about a year and a half ago. Joe Vanover, second district county commissioner, has been the primary driving force at the county level urging Evergy for improvements.
Complaints about the reliability of Evergy electrical service in Platte City reached a boiling point in the summer of 2022 and resulted in commissioners asking for quarterly updates from Evergy officials about what is being done to correct the service that in recent years has been plagued by many outages, many of them lengthy.
At its first quarterly update of 2023 to the county commission in March, Evergy reported there has been a meaningful reduction in the number of outages, and significantly, the number of customers impacted in each outages for the circuits that serve the city limits of Platte City as well as some of the surrounding area outside the city limits.
Last week’s report included further good news. The information Evergy provides to the Missouri Public Service Commission shows that outage performance in Platte City has improved to half of what it was a year ago and about 75% less than a few years ago. The single largest outage involved outside public interference (a truck hitting lines and knocking down poles).
The improvements have been significant and noticeable to not only county officials but also to the everyday Evergy customer.
“For years Platte City has suffered from too many electrical outages. I am so grateful for Evergy’s work over the last year. It has made a tremendous difference for this community,” Vanover said this week.
Waddell said she is confident that Evergy has “done the right amount of work for continued reliability in Platte City.”
She also stressed that the improvements are a continuing process.
“I’d love to say we’re done and it’s all fixed but we are never done. It is a continuous improvement process. It’s more like ‘what’s next?’ We are always working on something,” Waddell added.
Waddell said the company has reexamined processes, talked to vendors, done a massive amount of tree trimming in Platte City, just to name a few things that have contributed to improved reliability.