Power outage history
Pocahontas County Iowa
2.8hours
without power for the average customer in a typical year, 2018–2025
61st most of 98 in Iowa 57% 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 Pocahontas'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 4.9 hours for the average customer. Hatched years have a thin record and are left out of the averages.
Pocahontas, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 23, 2020 | Winter storm | 723 | 23% | 24 h | 15 h | 6.8k |
| Dec 15, 2021 | Tornadoes | 623 | 20% | 12 h | 30 min | 3.0k |
| Sep 18, 2023 | No storm report | 586 | 19% | 5.0 h | 10 h | 2.9k |
| Sep 18, 2024 | No storm report | 398 | 13% | 6.8 h | 9.5 h | 2.7k |
| Aug 10, 2020 | No storm report | 394 | 12% | 9.5 h | 20 h | 2.6k |
| May 24, 2024 | Thunderstorms | 1,012 | 32% | 7.2 h | 5.8 h | 2.6k |
| Jul 29, 2025 | Thunderstorms | 899 | 28% | 12 h | 2.2 h | 2.4k |
| Oct 20, 2022 | No storm report | 386 | 12% | 6.0 h | 6.2 h | 2.3k |
| Apr 18, 2025 | No storm report | 548 | 17% | 13 h | 11 h | 1.7k |
| Jul 7, 2016 | Thunderstorms | 223 | 7% | 10 h | 3.5 h | 1.6k |
| Nov 11, 2020 | No storm report | 893 | 28% | 3.2 h | 1.0 h | 1.5k |
| Nov 26, 2015 | No storm report | 768 | 24% | 12 h | 12 min | 1.5k |
| Jul 17, 2016 | No storm report | 340 | 11% | 7.8 h | 1.2 h | 1.5k |
| Oct 14, 2019 | No storm report | 634 | 20% | 5.0 h | 5.0 h | 1.4k |
| May 26, 2023 | No storm report | 115 | 4% | 12 h | – | 1.3k |
| Apr 15, 2023 | No storm report | 161 | 5% | 10 h | 4.5 h | 1.3k |
| Nov 10, 2020 | Ice storm | 853 | 27% | 8.8 h | 48 min | 1.3k |
| Jul 11, 2016 | Thunderstorms | 357 | 11% | 4.8 h | 4.0 h | 1.3k |
| Apr 27, 2019 | No storm report | 640 | 20% | 2.5 h | 1.2 h | 1.1k |
| Aug 25, 2016 | No storm report | 415 | 13% | 2.5 h | 2.5 h | 1.0k |
| Dec 21, 2016 | No storm report | 661 | 21% | 1.8 h | 3.8 h | 1.0k |
| Aug 30, 2021 | No storm report | 81 | 3% | 12 h | – | 961 |
| Mar 19, 2025 | Winter storm | 260 | 8% | 11 h | 6.5 h | 921 |
| Nov 13, 2017 | No storm report | 367 | 12% | 2.2 h | 12 h | 779 |
| Mar 24, 2016 | Winter storm | 282 | 9% | 6.5 h | 48 min | 771 |
| Jan 26, 2021 | No storm report | 131 | 4% | 5.8 h | – | 753 |
| Jun 15, 2022 | No storm report | 304 | 10% | 2.5 h | 13 h | 746 |
| Aug 20, 2015 | No storm report | 423 | 13% | 1.8 h | 12 h | 740 |
| Jun 10, 2021 | No storm report | 307 | 10% | 2.5 h | 2.2 h | 732 |
| Mar 16, 2015 | No storm report | 670 | 21% | 1.0 h | 1.0 h | 670 |
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 Pocahontas from twelve hours before it began to its peak. Matching shows coincidence, not proof of cause.
- No storm on record 66%
- Winter storm 17%
- Thunderstorms 9.7%
- Tornadoes 4.9%
- Ice storm 2.1%
Who keeps the lights on
Utilities serving Pocahontas
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 |
| Calhoun County Elec Coop Assn | IA | 21 | 21 | 0.20 | 14.2 | 32k |
| Midland Power Coop | Cooperative | 488 | 91 | 1.79 | 13.7 | 12k |
| City of Laurens | IA | – | – | – | 8.9 | 10k |
| Iowa Lakes Electric Coop | Cooperative | 55 | 54 | 0.44 | 13.8 | 9.8k |
| City of Pocahontas | IA | – | – | – | – | 9.3k |
| City of Fonda | IA | – | – | – | – | 2.6k |
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
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 3,159 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 →