CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Alliant Energy and ITC Midwest issued a joint statement Thursday morning that said the companies are working as quickly and safely as possible to restore electric services throughout Iowa.
As of 9 a.m. Thursday, power has been restored for more than 100,000 Alliant Energy customers following Monday’s widespread outages.For a complete update, view Alliant Energy’s recent statement.
“The entire restoration team, including our crews from Iowa and Wisconsin, crews from other utilities and ITC Midwest, is making progress to restore services to all customers,” stated Terry Kouba, senior vice president at Alliant Energy and president of the Iowa Utility Co.
“This was by far the most extensive storm damage we have seen since ITC Midwest began operating the transmission system at the end of 2007,” said Dusky Terry, president of ITC Midwest. “The storm was the equivalent of a 40-mile-wide tornado that rolled over 100 miles of the state.”
ITC Midwest estimated more than 1,200 miles of lines were impacted across its entire service area, from mild damage to miles of transmission structures broken and lying on the ground. The company responded by mobilizing more than 500 field utility workers to repair and rebuild the transmission system.
The statement said that ITC is working closely with Alliant and other distribution utilities to prioritize the needed transmission lines and substations to be re-energized. Substations step down high voltage electricity from the transmission system to a lower voltage so power can be supplied to homes and businesses through local distribution lines.
Similarly, Alliant employees from across Iowa and Wisconsin and crews from throughout the country are repairing and replacing power lines and poles, substations and other equipment, the statement said.
As the companies work in tandem on repairs, services will continue to be steadily restored for Iowa customers. Alliant Energy and ITC Midwest appreciate their customers’ patience as crews continue to work to restore services, the statement said.
For more information, visit Alliant Energy’s outage map, Facebook page and Twitter feed for updates. Please visit ITC’s Facebook page for updates.
