NEWS RELEASE: For Immediate Release

Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative | P.O. Box 240 | Le Mars, Iowa  51031 |  Ph. (712) 546-4141

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Date: March 22, 2025 - 9:10 PM

Subject:  March 22 UPDATE: NIPCO Completes Critical Power Restoration After 72+ Hour Outage

 

LE MARS, IOWA - Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative (NIPCO) announces that as of 9:10 PM Saturday, March 22, its transmission system has been restored to functional operations following more than 72 hours of outages caused by severe and widespread infrastructure damage across multiple counties.

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NIPCO crews successfully brought seven transmission substations back online during the late afternoon and evening hours, restoring the critical power delivery network serving western Woodbury, Monona, and Harrison Counties.

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"This marks a significant milestone in our restoration efforts," said Matt Washburn, Executive Vice President & General Manager of NIPCO. "Our dedicated teams have worked tirelessly through extremely challenging conditions to rebuild and repair the damaged infrastructure and restore power to the transmission system that serves our member cooperatives and their member-consumers."

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The restoration comes after extensive work by 43 transmission lineworkers, including NIPCO personnel and crews from East River Electric Power Cooperative, Corn Belt Power Cooperative, and Watts Electric, who provided crucial mutual aid and contract assistance.

Repair crews faced substantial challenges throughout the restoration process, including difficult terrain made worse by melting snow that created heavy mud and repeatedly immobilized essential equipment.

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"We want to express our sincere appreciation to our crews, mutual aid partners, and especially to our member cooperatives and their consumers for their extraordinary patience and understanding during this extended outage," Washburn added. "The cooperative spirit shown throughout this challenging period has been remarkable."

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While the transmission system is now operational, NIPCO notes that some localized distribution issues may still affect individual consumers. Residents experiencing continued outages should contact their local electric service utility for status updates specific to their location.

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NIPCO will continue monitoring the system closely in the coming days to ensure stable transmission operation.

 

This will conclude NIPCO’s regular situational updates related to the restoration efforts following Winter Storm Nyla.

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Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative (NIPCO) is a generation and transmission electric cooperative supplying wholesale electric power to 7 distribution cooperatives covering 6,500 square miles in western Iowa. These distribution cooperatives supply retail power to over 33,000 member-consumers. NIPCO serves these customers with over 950 miles of 69kV transmission lines and 82 distribution substations. Incorporated in 1949 and headquartered in Le Mars, Iowa, NIPCO is a Touchstone Energy® electric cooperative and a member of Basin Electric Power Cooperative.