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Alliant: We connected every customer ready to take power

The tornado that caused destruction in northern Marshalltown on July 19 not only left debris scattered around, but also knocked out power for thousands of residents — an Alliant Energy spokesperson said Friday much of that power has been restored.

“We’ve got all of our ‘primary’ energized — those are all the larger power lines that run along the streets,” said Justin Foss of Alliant. “From there, we have the individual service lines that go to individual homes … now, we have connected every customer who is ready to take power.”

He said there are customers whose homes are not yet ready to safely take electrical power, but they constitute a “very small percentage” of the total customers affected by the tornado.

“Either they need to make major repairs to their entire house or they need to make repairs to just the electric portion,” Foss said. “We started this storm (recovery) with about 10,000 people out.”

Alliant crews are also ensuring that natural gas lines are properly reconnected and working across the city.

“We’ve connected every customer that is ready and approved to take natural gas service,” Foss said. “Especially in the downtown area, we have a lot of customers who need to get assessments and permits from the city.”

He said the company’s staffing has gone back down to normal levels in Marshalltown as gas and electrical power were restored post-storm.

Foss also said there are some safety tips to keep in mind as customers return to their houses and turn on electrical appliances.

“If it rains a whole lot when you have an exposed house and things are open, things can happen to the electrical (system) that you wouldn’t expect,” he said.

To protect against shorting out after getting power back, Foss said customers can unplug their electrical appliances before power returns. Once the power is back, he said customers should plug in each appliance one-by-one.

“As you get it, plug them in, just in case you have an issue with an appliance or the interior wiring in your house,” he said. Foss said he is unaware of any widespread issues with power shortages after customers get electricity back in their homes.

For more information, visit https://alliantenergy.com

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Contact Adam Sodders at (641) 753-6611 or asodders@timesrepublican.com

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