Power outages can be caused by many different things including, but not limited to, the following:
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Storms: Wind, heat, ice, and snow are the most common causes of widespread power outages.
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Lightning: When lightning strikes transmission towers, wires, and poles, outages occur.
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Animals: Squirrels, birds, and other small animals are a common cause for power lines to short circuits.
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Trees: During high wind, or trimming by an untrained professional, limbs can come into contact with power lines, causing power interruptions.
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Excavation Digging: Underground cables are commonly disturbed by digging. Practice safety when you dig and always call Iowa One Call first at 811. Click here for more information on Iowa One Call.
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High Power Demand: During heat waves and other times of unusually high power demand, overburdened electric cables, transformers, and other electrical equipment can melt and fail.
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Vehicles: Occasionally, vehicle accidents with a utility pole cause power outages.
If you experience a power outage or notice a problem with our power lines, call us at 1.866.242.4232, 24 hours a day, seven days a week
Mother Nature doesn’t always follow the rules. She sends wind, lightning, and other weather elements that can cause disruptions in your service.
After a storm, outages can sometimes occur at several points in an electric system. At Access Energy Cooperative our goal is to get the power back on for everyone in the most efficient, safe manner while restoring electricity to the greatest number of consumers in the shortest amount of time.
When a widespread outage occurs, here’s how our repair crews work:
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they first check substations
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then work their way out on the main distribution line, restoring service to the main feeder lines
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then they move to lines serving groups of homes
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and finally individual consumers
Fixing the damage at an individual home first is useless if the main line is dead-no electricity would flow into the home anyway. By repairing the main line first, many more people will have their power restored.
Visit our outage center for more information on what to do during an outage.
Power blinks mean the system is doing what it is supposed to do to keep your power operating efficiently. For more information, visit our page on blinking lights.