Wichita, Kansas
Home Battery Backup in Wichita
Evergy's June 2025 storms left tens of thousands of Wichita-area customers in the dark. A battery keeps chosen circuits on, and Evergy even runs a $10-a-month battery pilot.
June 2025: 45,000+ out in the morning storm · ~85,000 impacted · RS $15.25 + 9.126¢ · RBES pilot $10/mo · TOU peak 4–8 p.m.
The short answer
Wichita is served by Evergy. On June 17, 2025, a morning storm with winds over 100 mph left more than 45,000 customers without power; later rounds raised the impact to about 85,000.
Standard Schedule RS (effective October 1, 2025) is a $15.25 monthly customer charge plus 9.126¢ per kWh for the first 900 kWh. Evergy also offers a company-owned home battery pilot for $10 a month, and an optional TOU rate with a 4–8 p.m. weekday peak.
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Tell us your Wichita address, whether you have solar and what must stay on in an outage. We confirm coverage before anyone sizes a battery.
Evergy outages and rates in Wichita
From Evergy's Kansas Central tariffs and contemporaneous storm reports.
June 17, 2025 storms
A morning storm with winds over 100 mph left more than 45,000 Evergy customers without power in the Wichita area. Later rounds pushed the total impact to about 85,000 customers, with more than 1,000 line and vegetation workers restoring service.
Schedule RS: $15.25 plus 9.126¢
Evergy Kansas Central Schedule RS (effective October 1, 2025) charges a $15.25 monthly customer charge and $0.09126 per kWh for the first 900 kWh, before riders. Above 900 kWh, winter energy is $0.07460 and summer is $0.10068.
A utility battery pilot at $10 a month
Evergy's Residential Battery Energy Storage Pilot (Schedule RBES) installs a company-owned home battery for qualifying customers for a $10 monthly program fee, capped at about 100 participants.
Where a battery fits in Wichita
Storm backup, the utility pilot, optional TOU and net metering rules.
Storm backup comes first in Wichita
Summer derecho-style winds are what take Wichita's power out in large numbers. A battery with a critical load panel keeps refrigeration, sump or well pumps, internet and medical devices running while crews work.
Optional TOU peaks at 4–8 p.m.
Evergy's residential Time of Use schedule prices on-peak energy from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. on weekdays, excluding holidays. A battery charged off-peak can cover that window if you opt in.
Pilot battery vs your own battery
The RBES pilot is Evergy-owned equipment with Evergy operating it for grid and bill uses. A homeowner-owned battery is a different product: you pick the circuits and keep the asset.
Net metering for renewables
Evergy's Kansas net metering rider covers renewable systems up to 150 kW for eligible customers, subject to the statewide capacity steps in K.S.A. 66-1265. Storage paired with renewables has to follow Evergy's interconnection rules.
Wichita next to Oklahoma City and Omaha
Oklahoma City sits on OG&E's SmartHours rate, with a 2–7 p.m. summer weekday peak priced far above off-peak.
Omaha's OPPD is a public power district that set a storm outage record in July 2024 and is only now piloting time-of-use pricing.
Where these figures come from
Rates and the battery pilot trace to Evergy's Kansas Corporation Commission tariffs; storm counts to contemporaneous utility and press reports.
- Evergy Kansas Central — rate schedules (Schedule RS, TOU, RBES) — effective October 1, 2025 for RS/TOU; RBES pilot terms in the same book.
- TD World — Evergy lineworkers respond to summer storms — June 17, 2025 morning outage count and June 18 restoration snapshot.
- KWCH — Evergy restoration after June 17, 2025 storms — about 85,000 impacted and more than 1,000 workers on site.
What a home battery job with us covers
Installation of storage and the backup circuits behind it, with the siting and utility paperwork handled.
Battery installation
Wall or floor-mounted storage installed to the listing and to the residential code sections that govern where it may go.
Backup and critical load panel
Deciding and wiring which circuits stay live, and which must never be on backup — the choice that defines what an outage feels like.
Integration with existing PV solar
Connecting storage to an array that is already on the roof, including whether the existing inverter supports it.
Transfer switch and disconnection
The equipment that separates the house from the grid during an outage, which is what makes backup legal as well as possible.
Siting to code
Location, clearances, separation and impact protection assessed against the adopted code before anything is mounted.
Permit, inspection and utility approval
The electrical permit, the inspection, and the utility's own approval step where storage touches the service.
This is installation work. No runtime, capacity or incentive figure is quoted before your loads and your utility are confirmed. Coverage is confirmed per service area rather than promised as blanket availability.
What the work actually looks like
A battery job is an electrical job. The panel, the circuits and the disconnection are most of it.
Battery backup in Wichita, answered plainly
Who is the electric utility in Wichita?+
Evergy (Evergy Kansas Central / Evergy Kansas South doing business as Evergy Kansas Central). Residential Schedule RS and the optional TOU and battery pilot tariffs apply in the Wichita rate area.
How bad have Wichita power outages been?+
On June 17, 2025, a morning storm with winds over 100 mph left more than 45,000 Evergy customers without power. Later storms the same day raised the impact to about 85,000 customers; by the afternoon of June 18 roughly 9,000 of those 85,000 were still out, with more than 1,000 line and vegetation workers on the restoration.
What does Evergy charge on the standard residential rate?+
Schedule RS (effective October 1, 2025): $15.25 monthly customer charge plus $0.09126 per kWh for the first 900 kWh, then $0.07460 per kWh in winter months (October–May) or $0.10068 in summer months (June–September), plus applicable riders and surcharges.
What is Evergy's home battery pilot?+
Schedule RBES is a voluntary Residential Battery Energy Storage Pilot. Evergy owns, installs and operates the battery on the customer's premise for up to about 100 residential customers, for a $10 monthly program fee.
When is Evergy's residential TOU peak?+
On the residential Time of Use schedule, on-peak is 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding listed holidays, with separate summer and winter energy prices.
How long will a battery run my house?+
It depends on capacity and which circuits you put on it, so we don't quote a runtime before seeing the panel.
Who installs it, and who is responsible afterwards?+
Seamless Home is the licensed contractor of record on the work it runs. Installation is performed by vetted installing partners engaged as our subcontractors, so the permit, the inspection and any correction notice carry one name. Coverage is confirmed per service area rather than promised as blanket availability.
Related resources
Home battery backup
The national service page behind this one.
Learn more →Home battery backup in Oklahoma City, OK
OG&E SmartHours and its 2–7 p.m. summer peak.
Learn more →Home battery backup in Omaha, NE
OPPD's July 2024 storm and its new TOU pilot.
Learn more →All home services
Water, battery, HVAC and solar under one licensed contractor of record.
Learn more →Get a free estimate for Wichita
Tell us your address, whether you have solar and which circuits must stay on in an outage. We confirm Evergy coverage first — no charge to talk, no obligation.
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