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Rolling outages hit metro on Monday to conserve power 

Kansas City area residents are being asked to turn down the thermostat today despite bitter-cold temperatures. Local power and gas utility companies are experiencing a strain and have been instructed to conduct rolling power outages to reduce energy usage.

Local power and gas utilities are urging customers to turn the thermostat down despite the extreme cold.

And after issuing that request over the weekend, the Southwest Power Pool has directed utility companies to begin rolling power outages.

Customers have been urges to help lower demand on utility grids by turning the indoor temperature down as well as delaying usage of larger appliances like clothes washers and dryers.

The Southwest Power Pool coordinates power supplies in 14 states, including Kansas and Missouri. The organization is asking customers to conserve power until Wednesday.

Additional calls for conservation have come from Spire gas utility, Evergy Power and city utility companies.

The Southwest Power Pool announced Monday afternoon that they have directed utility companies to begin rolling outages.

Independence announced rolling outages have started in the city and will last 20 to 30 minutes at a time.

Evergy announced that beginning today at 12:15 p.m., the company will begin to turn off electricity to blocks of customers for approximately 30 – 60 minutes.