Power outage history
Des Moines County Iowa
3.6hours
without power for the average customer in a typical year, 2018–2025
50th most of 98 in Iowa 45% below the national median
Every day since 2015
Eleven years, one night at a time
Each cell is a day. The brighter it is, the larger the share of Des Moines's customers who were without power at that day's worst moment.
Year by year
Hours in the dark, per customer
2024 was the worst well-recorded year, at 9.7 hours for the average customer. Hatched years have a thin record and are left out of the averages.
Des Moines, hours without power per customer
The record
The biggest outages since 2015
Ranked by customer-hours lost: customers out multiplied by how long they stayed out. Times are local.
| Began | Storm | Peak out | Share | Lasted | 90% restored | Customer-hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 27, 2024 | Thunderstorms | 7,944 | 44% | 29 h | 21 h | 92k |
| Jun 20, 2015 | Thunderstorms | 6,275 | 34% | 41 h | 27 h | 57k |
| Mar 31, 2023 | Thunderstorms | 4,732 | 26% | 26 h | 5.5 h | 24k |
| Dec 14, 2024 | Ice storm | 4,097 | 23% | 13 h | 5.2 h | 20k |
| Jul 11, 2025 | No storm report | 1,716 | 9% | 10 h | 7.2 h | 12k |
| Jun 10, 2015 | Thunderstorms | 1,596 | 9% | 11 h | 10 h | 9.1k |
| Jul 15, 2024 | Thunderstorms | 1,445 | 8% | 16 h | 16 h | 8.5k |
| Jun 11, 2021 | Thunderstorms | 4,966 | 27% | 5.0 h | 5.0 h | 8.2k |
| Dec 28, 2015 | Winter storm | 3,520 | 19% | 9.2 h | 30 min | 8.1k |
| Aug 15, 2024 | Thunderstorms | 2,814 | 15% | 5.2 h | 4.2 h | 8.0k |
| Jul 19, 2020 | Thunderstorms | 3,001 | 16% | 7.0 h | 5.8 h | 7.9k |
| Sep 16, 2023 | No storm report | 3,653 | 20% | 2.8 h | 2.8 h | 7.9k |
| Aug 10, 2020 | Thunderstorms | 6,658 | 37% | 7.5 h | 2.2 h | 7.5k |
| Feb 1, 2015 | Winter storm | 2,260 | 12% | 3.2 h | 2.5 h | 7.3k |
| May 6, 2023 | Thunderstorms | 1,133 | 6% | 5.5 h | 1.2 h | 6.2k |
| Dec 25, 2016 | No storm report | 2,813 | 15% | 2.2 h | 1.0 h | 5.9k |
| Jun 25, 2015 | Thunderstorms | 2,025 | 11% | 5.2 h | 3.0 h | 5.9k |
| Jul 4, 2023 | No storm report | 3,393 | 19% | 2.2 h | 2.2 h | 5.6k |
| Aug 25, 2019 | No storm report | 2,295 | 13% | 2.2 h | 12 h | 5.1k |
| Sep 26, 2021 | No storm report | 2,575 | 14% | 1.8 h | 1.5 h | 4.5k |
| May 7, 2023 | Thunderstorms | 2,390 | 13% | 5.2 h | 5.0 h | 4.5k |
| Aug 23, 2023 | No storm report | 1,604 | 9% | 2.8 h | 2.8 h | 4.4k |
| Jul 27, 2025 | No storm report | 1,918 | 11% | 2.2 h | 2.0 h | 3.9k |
| Nov 26, 2025 | No storm report | 2,224 | 12% | 1.8 h | 2.8 h | 3.9k |
| Mar 9, 2024 | No storm report | 2,334 | 13% | 2.0 h | 2.0 h | 3.7k |
| Apr 20, 2025 | Thunderstorms | 510 | 3% | 7.0 h | – | 3.5k |
| Nov 26, 2023 | No storm report | 1,602 | 9% | 5.5 h | 5.5 h | 3.3k |
| Dec 14, 2023 | No storm report | 1,358 | 7% | 4.2 h | 12 min | 3.3k |
| Jun 15, 2019 | Tornadoes | 1,124 | 6% | 6.5 h | 6.0 h | 3.2k |
| Jul 19, 2022 | No storm report | 1,586 | 9% | 2.0 h | 2.0 h | 3.2k |
After the peak
How fast the lights come back
Each line is one major outage, from its peak. The amber line is the typical path.
When it happens
The outage clock
Customer-hours out by month (rings, January innermost) and local hour, 2018–2025.
What was happening
Weather behind the outages
Each outage is matched to NOAA storm reports for Des Moines from twelve hours before it began to its peak. Matching shows coincidence, not proof of cause.
- Thunderstorms 49%
- No storm on record 40%
- Ice storm 5.5%
- Flooding 2.4%
- Winter storm 1.9%
- Tornadoes 0.9%
Who keeps the lights on
Utilities serving Des Moines
As each utility reports to the Energy Information Administration for its whole Iowa territory, not this county alone. Outage minutes include major storm days.
| Utility | Type | Outage min / yr | Excl. major storms | Outages / yr | Residential ¢/kWh | Customers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interstate Power and Light Co | Investor Owned | 89 | 74 | 0.82 | 17.8 | 419k |
| Eastern Iowa Light & Power Coop | Cooperative | 92 | 79 | 0.93 | 14.8 | 20k |
| New London Municipal Utilities | IA | – | – | – | – | 9.3k |
| Access Energy Coop | Cooperative | 83 | 83 | 0.77 | 14.8 | 8.9k |
| City of Danville | IA | – | – | – | – | 3.8k |
EIA Form 861, latest year each utility reported. Outage minutes are SAIDI, the yearly minutes the average customer goes without power; outages a year are SAIFI.
Next door
Neighbouring counties
- Mercer, IL 17 h
- Henderson, IL 9.2 h
- Louisa 5.2 h
- Lee 4.4 h
- Des Moines (this county) 3.6 h
- Henry 1.9 h
About these numbers
Notes
Outages come from the EAGLE-I record of utility outage maps collected every 15 minutes by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Hours without power are customer-hours divided by the county's 18,207 electricity customers. Averages use well-covered years from 2018. Outages shorter than 15 minutes, and utilities that publish no outage map, are not in the record, so these figures understate the total. How every number is made →