Power outage history
Audubon County Iowa
4.0hours
without power for the average customer in a typical year, 2018–2025
43rd most of 98 in Iowa 39% 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 Audubon'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 5.7 hours for the average customer. Hatched years have a thin record and are left out of the averages.
Audubon, 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 15, 2021 | Tornadoes | 1,113 | 44% | 20 h | 10 h | 10k |
| Nov 26, 2015 | No storm report | 860 | 34% | 21 h | 13 h | 5.6k |
| Aug 10, 2020 | Thunderstorms | 2,511 | 100% | 22 h | 2.0 h | 4.9k |
| Sep 21, 2024 | No storm report | 120 | 5% | 41 h | – | 3.9k |
| Aug 11, 2016 | Thunderstorms | 1,712 | 68% | 5.5 h | 2.0 h | 2.9k |
| Jul 19, 2024 | No storm report | 101 | 4% | 3.4 d | – | 2.8k |
| Feb 4, 2017 | No storm report | 855 | 34% | 3.5 h | 30 min | 2.6k |
| Mar 19, 2025 | Windstorm | 733 | 29% | 24 h | 12 min | 2.3k |
| Apr 23, 2022 | Windstorm | 829 | 33% | 2.8 h | 12 h | 2.3k |
| May 6, 2024 | Thunderstorms | 908 | 36% | 3.5 h | 2.2 h | 2.3k |
| Jul 4, 2022 | No storm report | 1,422 | 57% | 2.5 h | 1.5 h | 1.8k |
| May 21, 2024 | Thunderstorms | 748 | 30% | 3.5 h | 3.2 h | 1.6k |
| Apr 12, 2020 | No storm report | 221 | 9% | 12 h | 11 h | 1.4k |
| May 25, 2020 | No storm report | 721 | 29% | 1.8 h | 1.8 h | 1.3k |
| May 15, 2025 | No storm report | 930 | 37% | 2.0 h | 1.2 h | 1.2k |
| Apr 26, 2019 | No storm report | 219 | 9% | 5.5 h | 5.5 h | 1.2k |
| Sep 11, 2023 | No storm report | 821 | 33% | 1.8 h | 48 min | 1.1k |
| Mar 5, 2025 | Winter storm | 201 | 8% | 11 h | 8.0 h | 1.1k |
| Mar 28, 2020 | No storm report | 834 | 33% | 1.2 h | 1.2 h | 1.0k |
| Feb 3, 2016 | Winter storm | 726 | 29% | 3.5 h | 48 min | 1.0k |
| Mar 16, 2018 | No storm report | 267 | 11% | 5.5 h | 3.2 h | 1.0k |
| May 30, 2022 | Thunderstorms | 854 | 34% | 2.2 h | 1.5 h | 970 |
| Jul 5, 2022 | No storm report | 718 | 29% | 1.2 h | 6.5 h | 895 |
| Jan 14, 2022 | Winter storm | 189 | 8% | 5.8 h | 5.5 h | 695 |
| Sep 11, 2019 | No storm report | 688 | 27% | 1.0 h | 1.0 h | 688 |
| Dec 6, 2020 | No storm report | 191 | 8% | 3.2 h | 3.2 h | 621 |
| May 25, 2022 | No storm report | 827 | 33% | 48 min | 48 min | 620 |
| Nov 22, 2016 | No storm report | 761 | 30% | 48 min | 48 min | 571 |
| Nov 25, 2024 | No storm report | 731 | 29% | 48 min | 1.0 h | 542 |
| Oct 20, 2019 | No storm report | 718 | 29% | 48 min | 48 min | 538 |
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 Audubon from twelve hours before it began to its peak. Matching shows coincidence, not proof of cause.
- No storm on record 56%
- Thunderstorms 16%
- Tornadoes 16%
- Windstorm 7.0%
- Winter storm 4.5%
Who keeps the lights on
Utilities serving Audubon
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 |
| Guthrie County Rural E C A | IA | – | – | – | 10.4 | 72k |
| Western Iowa Power Coop | IA | 27 | 27 | 0.27 | 13.5 | 69k |
| Farmers Electric Coop, Inc | IA | 90 | 90 | 1.63 | 13.8 | 67k |
| Nishnabotna Valley R E C | IA | 153 | 153 | 1.25 | 13.6 | 64k |
| Raccoon Valley Electric Cooperative | IA | 39 | 39 | 0.56 | 14.0 | 49k |
| Atlantic Municipal Utilities | IA | – | – | – | 8.4 | 42k |
| City of Kimballton | IA | – | – | – | – | 1.9k |
| WAPA-- Western Area Power Administration | Federal | – | – | – | – | – |
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 2,511 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 →