Utility crews from around US join Alliant, MidAmerican for massive Iowa power restoration efforts
In the wake of high winds and storms that devastated a wide swath of Iowa last week, Alliant Energy and MidAmerican Energy line crews, joined by workers from around the country, have restored power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.
Work continues, however, with assistance from more than 2,000 workers from all over the United States and Canada. When the storm — classified as a derecho — first struck across 100 miles on Aug. 10, more than 240,000 Aliant customers were left without service, along with another approximately 280,000 from MidAmerican. As of Aug. 18, Alliant confirmed that power to most customers had been restored. However, crews had to work hard to replace more than 3,000 power poles in a week — a job that would generally take about 10 months.
According to Dusky Terry, president of ITC Midwest, the storm damage that struck Iowa was the worst since ITC Midwest began operating the region’s transmission system in 2007.
The day after the storm, Terry Kouba, senior vice president at Alliant Energy and president of the Iowa Utility Company, described the damage as beyond what the company had seen before. As he surveyed the damage in Marshalltown and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he noted that rural areas could take longer to help,
“The storm damaged some of our facilities and buildings,” Kouba said. “There are trees down on our lines and blocking many roads. Clearing the path, replacing poles and lines, and restoring services – it’s going to take time to get our customers re-connected.”
By 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 11, Alliant had restored power to approximately 70,000 people. As of 2 p.m. on Aug. 17, more than 72 percent of affected homes and businesses had services restored.
“Our teams – and teams joining us from around the country – are working day and night to make power available to the majority of customers across the state by the end of the day on Tuesday, Aug. 18,” Kouba said in a statement issued at 4:30 p.m. that day. “That means by midnight on Tuesday evening, at least 90 percent of our customers who were impacted by Monday’s storm and high winds will have power available to them. And we are working quickly and safely to make that happen even faster. We will not rest until each and every customer has power available to them.”
According to a company notice issued Aug. 18 at 10 p.m., Alliant hit that figure, having restored power to nearly every home and business in Huxley and DeWitt, and more than 90 percent of customers in Fairfax, Hiawatha, and New Newton. This followed rapid progress throughout the day, which began with 293 of 340 communities with majority access to power and nearly full restoration for Central City, Lisbon, Fairfax, Springville, Walker and Waubeek already assured. By 7:30 p.m., Alliant had expanded that near-completion list to include Anamosa, Huxley, Perry, and Clinton.
In all, nearly 230,000 homes and businesses relying on Alliant now have their power back, the company updated at 9:00 a.m. on Aug. 19.
“While we met a major milestone last evening, our goal is and always has been power available to all. We will not stop until every single customer has service available to them. We will get there – and we will continue to do it quickly and safely,” the company release stated.
After shoring up its service area, MidAmerican dispatched 60 linemen, 10 support employees, and equipment to assist in Alliant’s ongoing efforts early this morning. MidAmerican finished storm response efforts in Des Moines and Iowa City over the weekend and concluded work in the Quad Cities area on Monday.
“The storm that hit our customers and others around the state was unlike anything in recent memory,” Adam Wright, president and CEO of MidAmerican Energy, said. “But what isn’t unusual is our response to do whatever it takes to restore electric and gas service to our customers. In fewer than 120 hours, we were able to return electricity to more than 260,000 customers, or 92 percent, across three different metro areas. Now that we’ve returned service to all customers, we will now turn our attention to helping our fellow Iowans, by providing line crews, supplies and volunteers to aid with the cleanup in Cedar Rapids. I’m grateful for the personal responsibility our employees take in serving our customers and our broader community.”
A small number of MidAmerican’s customers remain without power, but the company noted that it would dispatch crews to them once they can confirm certain repairs to privately owned equipment or components have been undertaken.
