Momentary Outages

When the digital display on your clock, microwave and other electrical equipment is blinking, know this is a positive sign of Westar Energy's healthy electrical system.

Momentary outage

A momentary outage is defined as a very brief electrical service interruption lasting no longer than a few minutes.


While these interruptions can be irritating, they also serve a valuable purpose; they demonstrate that the Westar Energy electrical system is working properly and that it has prevented an even longer power outage.

What is happening

When electrical lines are damaged (ie; vehicle hits a utility pole, extreme winds occur, lightning, trees, etc.), the electrical system's breakers - similar to the circuit breaker in your home - interrupt power momentarily in an attempt to allow the lines to clear and check the system.


This interruption helps prevent long-term interruptions, but also causes some of your electronic equipment and appliances to blink.

To minimize the effects of momentary power interruptions, we recommend the following:

• When buying electronic equipment, look for devices with battery backup.



• Periodically save information on personal computers to prevent loss of data.



• Invest in an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). During a momentary outage, the UPS will continue to provide power to your personal computer.