Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative (NIPCO) experienced a transmission‑level outage at 16:45 on May 4 after the NIPCO Control Center was immediately alerted to the event by NIPCO’s internal protection system of any outage on the L3 to Sioux City transmission line. This line includes several electric transmission substations that serve members of North West REC. In response, NIPCO’s electric system operated as designed, automatically opening the line.

Follow these tips to operate your generator safely in the event of a power outage.

In recent months, western Iowa communities served by NIPCO have been impacted by severe weather events summer floods.

How the perfect winter conditions of ice and wind can cause power lines to move beyond their limit posing serious danger.

In high wind situations, there’s the potential for power outages due to branches, limbs and trees coming into contact with power lines.