Power outage history
Hardin County Iowa
4.6hours
without power for the average customer in a typical year, 2018–2025
36th most of 98 in Iowa 30% 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 Hardin's customers who were without power at that day's worst moment.
Year by year
Hours in the dark, per customer
2020 was the worst well-recorded year, at 21 hours for the average customer. Hatched years have a thin record and are left out of the averages.
Hardin, 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 10, 2020 | Thunderstorms | 3,769 | 55% | 6.2 d | 4.2 h | 130k |
| Jun 20, 2025 | Thunderstorms | 3,158 | 46% | 15 h | 6.2 h | 13k |
| Jul 17, 2016 | Thunderstorms | 1,788 | 26% | 15 h | 10 h | 10k |
| Dec 15, 2021 | Tornadoes | 2,253 | 33% | 20 h | 5.0 h | 9.6k |
| Apr 13, 2018 | Thunderstorms | 1,802 | 26% | 9.8 h | 3.2 h | 7.7k |
| Aug 15, 2025 | Thunderstorms | 3,393 | 49% | 2.2 h | 2.2 h | 7.1k |
| May 21, 2024 | Thunderstorms | 2,350 | 34% | 5.2 h | 3.0 h | 5.4k |
| May 18, 2019 | No storm report | 586 | 9% | 7.0 h | 7.0 h | 4.1k |
| Apr 29, 2022 | No storm report | 797 | 12% | 5.0 h | 12 h | 4.0k |
| Aug 23, 2016 | No storm report | 581 | 8% | 6.5 h | 1.2 h | 3.8k |
| Sep 9, 2019 | Thunderstorms | 827 | 12% | 5.0 h | 3.5 h | 3.1k |
| Oct 12, 2022 | No storm report | 2,068 | 30% | 1.5 h | 2.2 h | 3.1k |
| Jul 18, 2019 | Thunderstorms | 2,231 | 32% | 2.8 h | 2.8 h | 3.0k |
| Apr 29, 2020 | No storm report | 2,888 | 42% | 2.0 h | 2.0 h | 2.6k |
| Nov 9, 2016 | No storm report | 580 | 8% | 4.5 h | 4.5 h | 2.5k |
| Dec 10, 2021 | No storm report | 2,872 | 42% | 2.0 h | 2.0 h | 2.1k |
| Feb 21, 2023 | No storm report | 2,846 | 41% | 1.0 h | 48 min | 2.0k |
| Jun 22, 2023 | No storm report | 587 | 9% | 3.8 h | 3.0 h | 2.0k |
| Jun 28, 2017 | Thunderstorms | 801 | 12% | 4.0 h | 2.2 h | 1.9k |
| Mar 1, 2015 | No storm report | 1,147 | 17% | 1.5 h | 1.5 h | 1.7k |
| Jun 4, 2020 | Thunderstorms | 1,137 | 17% | 1.5 h | 1.5 h | 1.7k |
| Mar 8, 2015 | No storm report | 457 | 7% | 4.0 h | 11 h | 1.6k |
| Jun 28, 2017 | No storm report | 1,089 | 16% | 1.5 h | 1.0 h | 1.6k |
| Jul 24, 2016 | No storm report | 1,028 | 15% | 1.5 h | 1.5 h | 1.5k |
| Sep 22, 2016 | No storm report | 314 | 5% | 4.8 h | – | 1.5k |
| Aug 20, 2019 | Thunderstorms | 1,094 | 16% | 4.8 h | 1.8 h | 1.4k |
| Jun 25, 2022 | No storm report | 1,108 | 16% | 1.2 h | 7.0 h | 1.4k |
| Mar 6, 2017 | Thunderstorms | 456 | 7% | 4.8 h | 4.5 h | 1.3k |
| Aug 5, 2018 | Thunderstorms | 894 | 13% | 1.5 h | 1.2 h | 1.2k |
| May 31, 2025 | No storm report | 805 | 12% | 1.5 h | 1.5 h | 1.2k |
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 Hardin from twelve hours before it began to its peak. Matching shows coincidence, not proof of cause.
- Thunderstorms 78%
- No storm on record 17%
- Tornadoes 4.2%
Who keeps the lights on
Utilities serving Hardin
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MidAmerican Energy Co | Investor Owned | 205 | 82 | 1.19 | 11.2 | 640k |
| Interstate Power and Light Co | Investor Owned | 89 | 74 | 0.82 | 17.8 | 419k |
| Franklin Rural Electric Coop | IA | 178 | 178 | 1.48 | 12.7 | 31k |
| Grundy County Rural Elec Coop | IA | 62 | 62 | 0.86 | 14.1 | 28k |
| Midland Power Coop | Cooperative | 488 | 91 | 1.79 | 13.7 | 12k |
| Prairie Energy Coop | Cooperative | 428 | 121 | 3.11 | 14.1 | 3.4k |
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.
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 6,885 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 →