Almost 5,000 Alliant customers lost power over last two weeks
Marshalltown residents might have noticed a few power outages the past couple of weeks. In total, 4,980 Alliant customers lost power at some point during that period.
The last two outages occurred on Sunday. Melissa McCarville, senior communications partner for Alliant, said roughly 1,660 customers lost power for an hour. That incident was caused by an animal, she said.
The second Sunday outage was planned for 50 customers. McCarville said there was scheduled maintenance which took three hours and 22 minutes to complete.
“Customers impacted by planned outages receive notification in advance,” she said.
About 320 customers dealt with a power outage on Saturday. One hundred sixty of those 320 lost power from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m because of cable repair work. McCarville said another 160 customers went through an outage from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. so workers could safely complete the repair.
“Once the repair was safely made, all customers were restored to power,” she said.
On Friday, the largest number of Marshalltown customers — 2,850 — had a brief blink outage. McCarville said that meant the power blinked off for a moment and then came back on.
Finally, on June 17, there was a planned outage for roughly 100 customers for 36 minutes of scheduled maintenance work.
McCarville added that details on specific projects possibly impacting Marshalltown or Marshall County are not available at this time.
“As with any project, Alliant Energy will share details with impacted customers in advance of the project,” she said.
The utility company is planning on significant projects throughout the state. The work Alliant plans includes:
• Moving power lines from above to underground, which is expected to decrease the number and length of outages. According to Alliant, more than 20 percent of the power lines are above ground;
• Expanding the fiber network to ensure reliable communication during emergencies;
• Adding renewable energy to create additional jobs and tax revenues and help the environment. Alliant plans to add 400 megawatts of solar throughout Iowa and extend wind energy farms.
To help pay for the work, Alliant has requested an eight percent customer rate increase from the Iowa Utilities Commission (IUC) to take effect on Oct. 1, along with another increase of six percent in October 2025. Since Alliant submitted the request in October 2023, members of the public have submitted 67 objections.
“Our proposal reflects our ongoing commitment to delivering reliable, resilient and secure energy to our customers and the communities we serve throughout Iowa,” McCarville said. “This includes modernizing and strengthening the energy grid, as well as upgrading infrastructure.”
She said the commission has not yet made a final decision on the rate increase request. McCarville said members will decide on the rate adjustments, along with the timing as to when or if it will go into effect.
A public hearing for the rate increase is scheduled for next Tuesday in the IUC Hearing Room.
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Contact Lana Bradstream
at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or
lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.