FAQs • Chanute, KS • CivicEngage

Why do we lose power sometimes and who do we contact when such case occurs?: We have one of the most up-to-date electrical systems in Southeast Kansas. However, sometimes a circumstance beyond our control does knock out the city’s power supply, such as: animals crossing on the power lines; an electric pole and/or wire being knocked down; transformers overheating; or trouble from our supplier's line before it reaches Chanute. Should you lose power you may contact the Public Works Complex, Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at (620) 431-5250; or, for after hours and weekends call Power Plant #2 at (620) 431-5270.

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Power Plants

1. When does the city decide to generate?: The City of Chanute receives energy from Evergy through various baseload contracts and day-ahead purchases. In the event that our day-ahead purchases from the market exceed the cost to generate by a considerable margin, Chanute will then generate at a lower cost than it can be purchased. Also, Chanute's 50MW combustion turbine is registered in the SPP market under contract. Since it exceeds the 10MW threshold SPP can call on Chanute at any time for generation to put extra energy on the grid and/or for grid stability.

2. How does the city know how much power to generate?: We are in constant contact with Evergy and have metering in place that allows us to monitor what Chanute and Ash Grove Cement Company power demands are. The metering provides us the information to determine what generated output is needed to sustain total load.

3. Why do we lose power sometimes and who do we contact when such case occurs?: We have one of the most up-to-date electrical systems in Southeast Kansas. However, sometimes a circumstance beyond our control does knock out the city’s power supply, such as: animals crossing on the power lines; an electric pole and/or wire being knocked down; transformers overheating; or trouble from our supplier's line before it reaches Chanute. Should you lose power you may contact the Public Works Complex, Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at (620) 431-5250; or, for after hours and weekends call Power Plant #2 at (620) 431-5270.

4. Why do I have trouble getting a call through when the power is out?: Power Plant #2 is manned 24-hours a day with only one operator and two phone lines. When the power goes out that one operator is trying to isolate the problem and answer two phones all at the same time, so please be patient.

5. Why can`t you tell me when my power will be back on?: The operator does not know in many cases what caused the power to go out. He has to dispatch a service crew to go out and determine the cause and they decide what needs to be done and approximately how long it will take to fix.

6. Why do my neighbors have power and I don`t?: We have 7 primary power lines throughout the city and every house and business gets its power from one of these 7 lines. If your neighbor has power and you do not they may be getting power from a different primary line than you, or the problem may be isolated to your residence.