City Addressing Extended Power Outage

UPDATE - October 28th, 2023 | 12:22am

At this time, power should be restored to all residents and businesses in Osawatomie. If your power has not been restored, please report your outage through our TextMyGov reporting system. Text the word "OUTAGE" to 913-557-8777 and follow the prompts (you must complete all prompts to submit a report and receive a confirmation of submission). A notification will be immediately delivered to our electric team for review and follow-up as necessary.

UPDATE - October 27th, 2023 | 7:30pm

City of Osawatomie utility crews and supporting agencies have successfully loaded the 70,000lb transformer onto the substation pad and are beginning work on the cable and line connections.

Now that the transformer has been craned into place and other preparatory work has been completed within the substation, officials have estimated that a necessary community-wide outage will occur at approximately 10:15pm. This is not an exact timeframe and residents should prepare for the outage in advance. This outage allows electric workers to safely create connections and re-energize lines and other infrastructure before re-energizing the entire substation.

Officials estimate that the necessary outage will last approximately three hours. Barring unforeseen circumstances or complications, power should be restored to the entire community in the early morning hours of Saturday, October 28th, 2023.

This update was distributed through the General Alert and Emergency Alert subscription groups in our TextMyGov resident notification system, as well as via social media and our official website.

UPDATE - October 27th, 2023 | 1:52pm

City of Osawatomie crews are continuing to make progress at the power plant substation with the assistance of a number of other agencies. At this time, City officials do not have an updated estimated timeline for full installation of the transformer or any necessary outages. It's still too early in the process to make those determinations.

Donations of food and drink have been very appreciated by all crew members and supporting agencies, but please do not bring donations directly to the plant. In order to execute a successful installation, adequate space to maneuver and stage equipment is necessary and the immediate access roads through John Brown Memorial Park and surrounding the plant have been blockaded by City staff. For your safety and the safety of our crews, please take any donations to the Osawatomie Police Department. Officers will deliver supplies to the plant when it is appropriate to do so.

As a reminder, City Hall is still without power. Office staff are unable to answer phones, and several are without access to email or other regular resources. Those with secondary or mobile devices are working remotely and will return voicemails and emails as quickly as possible.

Thank you for your continued patience and understanding.

UPDATE - October 27th, 2023 | 9:55am

The transformer has arrived at the City of Osawatomie power plant substation. It took roughly two hours for the convoy to navigate the community due to tight corners, overhead power lines that needed to be raised, and other precautions. Crews are working to unload the unit now, with the assistance of heavy crane machinery, and are performing routine inspections of the transformer for any damages or other concerns stemming from transport.

For your personal safety and the safety of our crews and support teams, please avoid the water treatment/power plant area while work is being performed today. Adequate space to work, maneuver equipment, and stage other materials is necessary for a successful installation. Donations for crew members, such as Gatorade or snacks, are appreciated and can be dropped off at Osawatomie Police Department. Officers will deliver any donations to the plant when it is safe to do so.

The temporary shelter for displaced residents is still active and welcoming anyone from the community who is looking for a chance to rest, charge a device, or get some food/drinks. Please visit First United Methodist Church at 504 Pacific Avenue if you are in need of any support or assistance. Members of the Osawatomie Volunteer Fire Department, Osawatomie Ministerial Association, and a number of incredible volunteers are staffing the shelter and are happy to help in any way. Shelter volunteers are also accepting donations for displaced residents, such as bottled water, sugar free items, and individual treats.

UPDATE - October 27th, 2023 | 6:50am

City Officials have received word from the truck driver transporting the transformer to our community that they have reached Iola and should arrive within the hour. City Crews have arranged for a heavy crane to be on-site at approximately the same time. If you encounter either transport vehicle on the roadways this morning please give them space to maneuver safely and avoid blocking any access.

UPDATE - October 26th, 2023 | 8:52pm

City of Osawatomie officials have received confirmation that all necessary permits for the transport of the transformer from Garden City have been acquired. The transformer is en route and it's estimated that it will take approximately 12 hours for it to reach the city. Route complications due to the size and weight of the load caused a series of delays in shipment but have been resolved at this time. The driver will notify city workers when the transformer is two hours outside of city limits. Utility crews will raise local power lines as needed to allow the unit passage into the community. Crews do not anticipate that this work will disrupt power service.

City crews have arranged a heavy crane to be onsite first thing in the morning to assist with the transformer installation. It is still estimated that the install will take between 12-18 hours. During that time, brief outages will be necessary to safely reenergize the substation. The city will make every effort to give advanced notice of these outages.

Based on these developments, crews anticipate power being restored to the community Saturday afternoon barring unforeseen circumstances or complications.

UPDATE - October 26th, 2023 | 6:15pm

The City of Osawatomie is formally requesting a State of Emergency be declared by the Miami County, Kansas, Board of Commissioners considering ongoing electrical distribution complications within the city’s utility grid.

By issuing a state of emergency at the county level, City of Osawatomie officials will be able to petition for expedited processing for the state-level permits that are necessary to transport a large piece of critical electric infrastructure from Garden City, Kansas, to Osawatomie. Without the expedited permits, the transformer may be delayed overnight due to state heavy-haul and oversized-load trucking statutes. The transformer is the last remaining piece of infrastructure necessary to repair the city’s energy grid and return regular electric service to all residents and businesses.

City officials have been working closely with Garden City and area legislators, including Senators Molly Baumgardner and Caryn Tyson and Representatives Samantha Poetter and Fred Gardner, all of whom are in support of the City’s request for emergency assistance. Other area agencies, including many from Miami County, have been providing support and relief for the temporarily displaced residents of Osawatomie. At the time of this release, an estimated 250-300 people are still without power.

A copy of the release is available for download below.

UPDATE - October 26th, 2023 | 3:16pm

City of Osawatomie electric crew members located and corrected the issue that caused this afternoon's brief additional outage. A component at an active substation "tripped" and needed to be reset. This is unrelated to the breaker and transformer issue happening within the power plant substation.

Those who had power prior to this hiccup should be restored at this time.

Garden City officials have confirmed that the large (70,000lb) transformer is prepared for transport and will be loaded onto a truck and headed to Osawatomie at 4:30pm today (October 26th).

UPDATE - October 26th, 2023 | 2:38pm

The City of Osawatomie is experiencing an additional, unexpected outage at this time. Electric crews are investigating and will report findings as soon as possible. With the community's electric grid being modified across existing substations, the power supply is fragile. Thank you for your continued patience and understanding as we work to diagnose and remedy this issue.

At this time, City officials are still waiting confirmation from Garden City regarding the shipment of the large transformer for the power plant substation. It requires special trucking, including route surveys and permitting, but officials hope to hear good news soon.

This update was distributed through the General Alert and Emergency Alert subscription groups in our TextMyGov resident notification system, as well as via social media and our official website.

UPDATE - October 26th, 2023 | 9:20am

City of Osawatomie officials are awaiting confirmation from Garden City, Kansas, that the large transformer (70,000lbs) is prepped for shipment and en route. Another update will be issued when that confirmation has been received and a better timeline of work can be established.

The Osawatomie Fire Department, Osawatomie Police Department, and Miami County EMS are moving the public relief shelter to the First United Methodist Church (504 Pacific Avenue). The relief shelter was temporarily hosted at City Auditorium overnight but required the use of generators as City Hall is still without power. This shelter is open to any member of the public who may be needing additional assistance due to the extended outages and is helping provide electricity for devices, WiFi, food, and water.

Though power has been restored to a majority of the community, there are still around 300 meters currently without service. Because the community's electric grid has been modified to temporarily function without the power plant substation, the grid is in somewhat fragile condition. Osawatomie electric officials are asking that those with power please be conservative with their electric usage until the new transformer is installed and the substation brought back online. If at all possible, please keep thermostats at moderate but comfortable settings and minimize other usage such as turning off unnecessary lights, electronics, or appliances.

If you are in need of urgent assistance, please reach out to Osawatomie Police Department (913-755-2101), Osawatomie Fire Department (913-755-6941), or Miami County Sheriff's Office (913-294-3232). If you are in need of emergency assistance, please dial 9-1-1.

This update was distributed through the General Alert and Emergency Alert subscription groups in our TextMyGov resident notification system, as well as via social media and our official website.

UPDATE - October 25th, 2023 | 8:05pm

The City of Garden City, Kansas, has a transformer that fits our needs and that they are willing to sell to us with shipment of the unit to our community being organized tomorrow morning. Once it arrives, it will take Osawatomie electric crews upwards of a full day (12-18 hours) to install due to its size and complexity. The transformer weighs around 70,000lbs and measures 12ft wide, 10ft long, and 14ft high and requires specialized equipment. Once completed, City officials expect this replacement to resolve any ongoing outages now that the failed breaker and other related system malfunctions have been corrected.

The water treatment plant is back online and operating regularly thanks to the backup generator now on scene.

Unless the situation changes, this will be the last update for Wednesday, October 25th. More information will be released tomorrow morning as plans continue to develop for the installation of the transformer from Garden City.

If you are in need of urgent assistance, please reach out to Osawatomie Police Department (913-755-2101), Osawatomie Fire Department (913-755-6941), or Miami County Sheriff's Office (913-294-3232). If you are in need of emergency assistance, please dial 9-1-1.

This update was distributed through the General Alert and Emergency Alert subscription groups in our TextMyGov resident notification system, as well as via social media and our official website.

UPDATE - October 25th, 2023 | 3:21pm

City of Osawatomie electrical crews are working on making connections to reroute circuits experiencing outages to another substation. The faulty breaker within the power plant's substation has caused the total collapse of an integral transformer and crews have determined that it needs a full replacement. City officials are working to secure another transformer from another community.

A large generator has arrived at the water treatment plant to power the treatment process and give the water towers relief. This generator is only able to power the treatment plant and cannot be used to supplement the community's electrical grid.

A new breaker is en route from Beloit, Kansas, and crews are on standby to install it as soon as it arrives.

This update was distributed through the General Alert and Emergency Alert subscription groups in our TextMyGov resident notification system.

UPDATE - October 25th, 2023 | 12:56pm

A replacement breaker is en route to the substation at this time. Crews are still troubleshooting the impacted transformer but attempts at repair have not been encouraging. The team is working to tie circuits together in order to get more people back online, though school facilities will not be included under that plan. City officials have requested a generator technician be dispatched to review the power plant's generators and attempt to get them back online. In addition to these efforts, a backup generator is on its way to the water plant as part of a water treatment contingency plan. Information will be made available on each aspect of this issue as our teams learn more.

Due to the complexity of the component failure, we still currently have no estimated time of repair or power restoration. Unfortunately, this has been an almost "worst case scenario" in every way, but City of Osawatomie staff is doing everything possible to mitigate impact while repair and/or replacement of the breaker is underway.

This update was distributed through the General Alert and Emergency Alert subscription groups in our TextMyGov resident notification system.

UPDATE - October 25th, 2023 | 10:57am

City of Osawatomie electric crews remain on-site at the power plant substation. A breaker within the substation has critically failed, which is what caused the circuit to fail overnight, and this morning's repair was unsuccessful. Crew members are working with specialized technicians and outside agencies to continue diagnostic work and/or complete a larger replacement. Power will remain offline in portions of the community until the breaker is repaired or replaced. Crew members are relaying information as it becomes available. Please keep in mind that the electric distribution system is complex and still partially energized -- crew members are doing everything they can to bring the entire system back online while still protecting the existing power distribution and their own personal safety.

Please also remember to conserve water where possible. The power outage impacts our ability to make water and we are relying on our tower reserves (which is what they're there for!). However, if our towers fall too quickly, a boil water advisory or order may become necessary until treated water can be refilled.

Thank you to everyone who has reported their home's outage to our automated TextMyGov system. Because our electric team is actively working on the repair, they are unable to return inquiries or directly respond at this time. We appreciate your understanding and ask that residents please not submit multiple reports for this continuing outage. We are certainly aware of the problem and working hard to correct it.

UPDATE - October 25th, 2023 | 7:36am

Power was restored to a majority of affected neighborhoods overnight through the City’s generators. However, a secondary equipment failure in the early morning impacting the generators triggered another outage.

Unfortunately, crews cannot switch to an alternative power source at this time because the power still needs to pass through the substation at the power plant. To reach your home, it must navigate through circuit breakers, one of which has recently experienced a failure. These breakers are essential as they protect critical pieces of our distribution infrastructure that feed our grid. Bypassing the breakers could lead to even more significant outages.

Currently, crews and technicians are on-site, diligently working to troubleshoot the breaker issue. If they can repair it, we anticipate that it will take approximately 3-4 more hours. If the breaker cannot be fixed, the outage will be further extended while the work is completed to replace it.

The City’s Water Treatment Plant is also impacted by this power outage. We are asking residents to conserve water where possible to reduce the impact on our water towers until power can be restored to the Water Treatment Plant.

This notice was distributed through the General Alert and Emergency Alert subscription groups in our TextMyGov resident notification system. To subscribe to either list and receive City text message alerts, simply text the keyword to phone number 91896! "OZALERTS" will subscribe you to the Emergency Alert list and "OZGENERAL" will subscribe you to the General Alert list.

Original Post - October 24th, 2023 | 10:01pm

Utility crews have identified the equipment failure that has caused the extended outage for parts of the community. The failure is at the power plant substation. Crews are attempting to bring the system back online and are hoping to restore power soon. We will update as we learn more.

*To report an outage at any time, you can text "Hi" to 913-557-8777 and then use keyword "Outage" to submit a report using our automated "smart chat" text system! This keeps the phone lines at the Osawatomie Police Department and Miami County Sheriff's Office open for emergency services.*