Strategic Tree Trimming and System Upgrades Reduce Outages for Evergy Customers
Editor's Note: As a customer of Evergy here in Kansas City (home of the 2026 International Lineman's Rodeo). I receive monthly customer updates. The one that hit my inbox on June 29 caught my eye with the subject line, "Outages and Trees."
On the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, I send out T&D World's Vegetation Management Insights and Wildfire Mitigation enewsletter. I'm always looking for great content to share with our readers and subscribers, and I love sharing best practices.
Here's what Evergy is doing to take a proactive approach to utility vegetation management in the Kansas City area.
To prepare for the storm season, Evergy prepares for severe weather year-round, so when the storms hit, lineworkers across the service area can restore power quickly and safely.
Over the past four years, the annual outage time for customers has improved by 18%, due to consistent, system-wide efforts like trimming trees and brush, replacing cables and poles and installing smart switches.
"While no system can withstand every severe weather event, ongoing maintenance and system upgrades help us recover more quickly when storms hit and allow our crews to work more efficiently to restore power afterward," the company said in a June 2026 update to customers.
For example, about 300 Evergy crews and contractors work year-round to inspect about 300,000 trees, identifying dead or weakened trees, trimming branches and planning for future growth, using data such as weather patterns and outage history to focus on the highest-risk areas.
"We're making proactive, strategic decisions for tree trimming to help minimize outage risks," added a senior vegetation manager in Kansas City, Missouri, in the monthly update.
We Want to Hear From You!
How is your utility improving reliability through proactive vegetation management or innovative work methods or strategies? Email your photos and stories to Amy Fischbach, Head of Content, at [email protected].
Your story could appear in a future Vegetation Management Insights (VMI) enewsletter, which comes out the second and fourth Tuesday of each month.