News and Events

NIPCO's nearly 50-year-old building will have a new auxiliary generator by the end of the year.

The new 150-kW diesel-powered, three-phase generator sits outside the building and will be capable of running 25 hours on its 309-gallon tank, powering all essential operations within the building. The new generator, painted a bright green, replaces a 100-kW single-phase generator installed inside the building in 1964 when the building was constructed, and another 20 kW generator added in 2000 to power all mission-critical computers in the headquarters building.

Parts are not readily available for the original building generator, although it starts faithfully at 6 a.m. every Monday for a 30-minute test run. The old generator will be sold once the switch-over has been made.

North West REC, electric service provider to NIPCO's headquarters facility, has installed a new transformer for the building's electric service and bored in new conduit from the pole. An electrical contractor has installed an automatic transfer switch (ATS) that detects a power outage, fires up the new generator and makes teh change to auxiliary power.

Part of the project includes installing all new breaker panels in the basement to upgrade the headquarters building's electric system. 

In the photo below, NIPCO staff unstrap the new standby generator after setting it in place with a boom truck.

Clay Substation in western Harrison County was re-energized Sept. 15 after a three-month outage caused by the threat of Missouri River flooding.

NIPCO line crews replaced the transformer, oil-circuit reclosers, regulators and metering equipment in the substation, located just northwest of Modale, and by 3:15 p.m., turned power on. Crews from Harrison County REC assisted to place regulators in the substation and to remove a temporary pole.

In early June, the same crews stripped the substation and a nearby NIPCO telecommunications tower of equipment when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers predicted the area could be inundated with several feet of water during the anticipated summer-long flood. The equipment was removed not only to protect it from water and structural damage, but also to protect the safety of cooperative workers and the public.

Despite warnings that flood waters could reach up to eight feet in that area, the only water near the substation and communications tower was in ditches and low-lying areas. Both sites remained dry. On July 13, NIPCO crews moved the cooperative's 1.5-MVA mobile substation into the Clay sub to provide power to some of the area consumers who -- despite a flood -- needed electricity to run their irrigation systems in dry fields. The mobile substation was in place until Sept. 14 when it was removed to make way for reinstallation of equipment.

The transformer installed at clay came directly from refurbishing. New bushings -- devices which insulate and connect -- also were installed. The substation brings electricity in from NIPCO's transmission system at 69,000 volts and steps power down to 7,200 volts for distribution through Harrison County REC's system.

Equipment was reinstalled at the nearby telecommunications tower in late August.

While NIPCO's transmission system did not suffer damage from the three-month flood, many in the area had extensive damage because of flood water, ground water and mold.

PHOTOS: While the transformer is suspended from a crane boom, NIPCO linemen guide the transformer into place at Clay Substation Sept. 15. In the second photo, a lineman reassembles buss connection wires that will carry power from the substation's high-voltage side to the low-voltage side.

A four-man NIPCO line crew departed Wednesday morning to provide restoration assistance to neighboring generation and transmission cooperative Corn Belt Power.

The crew will assist with repairs to Corn Belt's transmission system in the Tama-Toledo area for approximately 10 days.

An early morning thunder and wind storm tore through northern Iowa Monday, damaging many electric utility systems as it headed toward the eastern United States. NIPCO suffered the loss of three poles near Calumet in the storm, but Corn Belt's damages were substantially worse.

Electric cooperatives throughout the nation have mutual aid agreements to provide assistance when disaster strikes. It's another example of cooperatives helping cooperatives and concern for community.

Strong winds, part of an overnight thunderstorm, broke two transmission poles and cracked a third in NIPCO's line west of Calumet, Iowa, shortly before 2 a.m. Monday.

At that time, NIPCO's control center reported winds at the headquarters building south of Le Mars to be 57 m.p.h.

The damage dropped electric conductor onto the roadway. A crew was immediately dispatched to evaluate the damage and begin restoration. Power was re-routed and restored to four affected substations. The longest outage was 2 hours and 48 minutes.

NIPCO crews went out to the site Monday to replace the poles and get the line back in service.

Strong storms moved through western Iowa Sunday evening. Two poles in NIPCO's transmission system went down about two miles northeast of Aspinwall in Crawford County.

Seven substations were affected when the poles went down. The outage lasted 14 minutes. The conductor did not break.

The storms also caused breakers to operate at seven other locations on NIPCO's lines. Those outages ranged from two minutes to two hours. One breaker required a manual reclose.

Despite increased flow of the flooding Missouri River, NIPCO's Clay Substation and Modale communications tower properties remained dry today.

Both facilities are located west of Modale, Iowa, and, in normal times, about five miles from the river's channel.

NIPCO crews dismantled both the substation and the communications tower equipment in early June when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers predicted this summer's flood could potentially put up to 10 feet of water in that area.

Here is a photo of Clay Substation.

This photo shows the Modale communications tower where the only water is confined to a ditch.

NIPCO has other facilities in the area. Equipment in those substations has been elevated to protect against any water damage.

A new substation to be called Lakeport is planned for construction to serve WinnaVegas, a casino west of Sloan, Iowa. The casino currently is surrounded by flood waters and protected by a sandbag levee. The new substation will be located about two miles northeast of the casino, and the substation construction site remains dry. A four-foot hole dug at the construction site shows no sign of ground water. The new substation will receive power along a 5.48 line that will extend to the southeast. Portions of that line route currently are flooded.

Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative serves much of the Iowa area expected to be inundated with Missouri River floodwaters this summer.

With at least two weeks of lead time before the flood, NIPCO management planned steps to safeguard not only cooperative equipment, but also public safety and the long-term integrity of NIPCO’s electric transmission system.

Using flood maps and water flow estimates from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NIPCO structured an orderly disassembly of Clay Substation near Modale, and the Modale communications tower. Harrison County REC is the retail electric provider in that area.

The Modale communications tower site, where water is forecast to rise about eight feet, normally carries information from four substations back to NIPCO headquarters. Those communications signals were re-routed. Then equipment was removed from the Clay Substation, where flood waters are expected to rise up to six feet. NIPCO crews removed voltage regulators, oil-circuit reclosers, metering electronics and a 31,000-pound transformer. The equipment was taken to NIPCO’s Le Mars headquarters for storage. The final step was to remove electronic equipment from the communications tower building.

In other substations near the predicted flood area, equipment was raised to keep it dry.

Once the flood water recedes, which could be two or three months according to early estimates from the Corps of Engineers, NIPCO crews will assess damages and begin the reconstruction process. The communications tower will likely undergo a structural study. The substation will be examined for damages. Then repairs and rebuilding will go forward.

“No one can predict what we’ll find when the flood recedes,” said Kent Pauling, NIPCO vice president and general manager, “but we are confident that our reconstruction of services to the flooded area will  go much quicker because we have safeguarded the most important parts of the equipment for the substation and tower.”

Also unknown is what effect long-term flooding will have on NIPCO’s 69-kV transmission line that brings power to that area. The concern is that flowing water could undermine the poles supporting the overhead transmission line.

Cooperatives, Members Donate Coats, Outdoor Gear To Keep Kids Warm This Cold Winter Several of the electric cooperatives in the NIPCO service area helped kids stay warm this winter.

They participated in the annual KMEG Coats for Kids project by collecting new and gently used coats and other winter garments donated by employees, cooperative members and other television viewers. The clothing went to Davenport Cleaners for cleaning and then to the Salvation Army for distribution to those in need of warm winter gear. KMEG promoted the program on-air and the cooperatives supplemented the effort by announcing the collection in their newsletters and other communications with members and the public.

NIPCO, North West REC, Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative, Woodbury County REC and WIPCO all took part in the program, which was offered in the KMEG viewing area. Many boxes and bags of clothing were delivered by the cooperatives to the Salvation Army during November and December. The program is just one example of the cooperative principle -- concern for community -- in action.