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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Aug.13, 2020) – Responding to an unprecedented storm in an unprecedented year, ALLIANT ENERGY and ITC MIDWEST are working, as quickly and safely as possible, to restore electric services throughout Iowa.

The utilities have confronted the devastating damage with a similarly unprecedented restoration effort. The companies achieved a key milestone Tuesday night when the lights came back on in downtown Cedar Rapids. ITC Midwest was able to return to service a critical line that feeds Alliant Energy’s Downtown Industrial substation, allowing Alliant Energy to restore electric services to the city’s hospitals, police and fire stations, municipal government offices, businesses and residences in the city’s core. The close coordination between ITC Midwest and Alliant Energy is key to continued progress in restoring electric service throughout the city, county and affected region.

ITC Midwest has estimated that nearly 350 miles of lines in Linn County alone were impacted by Monday’s derecho. Across its entire service area, the company estimated more than 1,200 miles of lines were impacted in some way, from mild damage to miles of transmission structures broken and lying on the ground. To respond, ITC Midwest has mobilized more than 500 field utility workers to repair and rebuild the transmission system. The company is working closely with Alliant Energy 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.

At the same time, Alliant Energy, joined by employees from across Iowa and Wisconsin and crews from throughout the country, is repairing and replacing its power lines and poles, substations and other equipment. As both companies work in tandem on repairs, services will continue to be steadily restored for Iowa customers.

As of 9 a.m. CDT today, power has been restored for more than 100,000 Alliant Energy customers, following the widespread outages caused by the major storms on Monday afternoon. For a complete update, click to 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, SVP at Alliant Energy and President of the Iowa Utility Company. “The crews are working as quickly and as safely as possible in order to fully restore all services.”

“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. To address the damage, we have deployed significant resources and equipment to return the transmission system to service. We’ll continue partnering with Alliant Energy and other local utilities to bring power back to Iowans.”

Alliant Energy and ITC Midwest appreciate your patience as crews continue to work to restore services to all customers. Please visit Alliant Energy’s OUTAGE MAP, FACEBOOK PAGE and TWITTER FEED for updates. Please visit ITC’s FACEBOOK PAGE for updates.

Media Contacts:
Cindy Tomlinson | Manager of External Communications | Alliant Energy | 608-206-4646 | CINDYTOMLINSON@ALLIANTENERGY.COM

Rod Pritchard| ITC Midwest| 319-350-9255 | RPRITCHARD@ITCTRANSCO.COM

Alliant Energy Corporation (NASDAQ: LNT) provides regulated energy service to 970,000 electric and 420,000 natural gas customers across Iowa and Wisconsin. Alliant Energy’s mission is to deliver the energy solutions and exceptional service customers and communities count on – safely, efficiently and responsibly. Interstate Power and Light Company and Wisconsin Power and Light Company are Alliant Energy’s two public energy companies. Alliant Energy is a component of the Nasdaq CRD Sustainability Index, Bloomberg’s 2020 Gender-Equality Index, and the S&P 500. For more information, visit ALLIANTENERGY.COM and follow us on LINKEDIN, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and TWITTER.

ITC Midwest LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ITC Holdings Corp., the nation’s largest independent electricity transmission company. ITC Midwest operates nearly 6,700 circuit miles of transmission lines in Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois and Missouri, and holds utility status in Wisconsin. ITC Midwest is headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and maintains regional operating facilities in Dubuque, Iowa City and Perry, Iowa; and Albert Lea and Lakefield, Minnesota. For further information visit WWW.ITC-HOLDINGS.COM. ITC is a subsidiary of Fortis Inc., a leader in the North American regulated electric and gas utility industry. For further information visit WWW.FORTISINC.COM.