BY ANGELA CATTON
When Winter Storm Nyla’s ice, snow and gusty winds toppled 11 miles of transmission lines and rendered 20 substations inoperable on March 19, the staff at Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative (NIPCO) knew they were facing one of their most significant challenges in recent history.
NIPCO – a generation and transmission cooperative – supplies wholesale electric power to seven distribution cooperatives covering 6,500 square miles in western Iowa. These distribution cooperatives supply retail power to more than 30,000 member-consumers.
“We started getting reports of damage Wednesday morning,” explains Matt Washburn, NIPCO executive vice president and general manager. “By noon, we realized this wouldn’t be a typical outage response.”
The storm wreaked havoc across Crawford, Harrison, Monona, Shelby and Woodbury counties, with Harrison and western Monona counties bearing the brunt of the damage. Thousands of member-consumers served by NIPCO member cooperatives faced outages lasting up to 84 hours, including those in Onawa and surrounding areas.
The restoration effort would require strategic and well-timed behind-the-scenes coordination across multiple departments at NIPCO and tapping external partners. While NIPCO routinely updates and practices its documented emergency response plan for widespread damage and prolonged outages, carrying it out in a real-world situation felt both familiar and unnervingly unpredictable.
Glimmers of hope in the darkness
As soon as the weather cleared, NIPCO crews began assessing the damage. The cooperative contracted with a local pilot to get aerial views of damaged lines in harder-to-access areas. Washburn immediately recognized the co-op would need extensive support.
“In a situation like this, you quickly realize the value of the cooperative model,” Washburn explains. “A few phone calls set in motion a cascade of support that would have been impossible to coordinate without our existing relationships.”
Support arrived from East River Electric Power Cooperative (Madison, South Dakota) with eight crew members and Corn Belt Power Cooperative (Humboldt) with 15 crew members. Contractors from Watts Electric were redirected from routine upgrade work to restoration efforts, bringing the total to 43 transmission lineworkers. Each team provided specialized equipment to navigate difficult conditions like thick mud from melting snow and ice.
Central Iowa Power Cooperative (CIPCO), based in Cedar Rapids, and L&O Power Cooperative, based in Rock Rapids, offered access to their surplus replacement poles, conductors and specialized equipment inventories, helping NIPCO overcome supply challenges.
Spotlighting communications efforts
NIPCO’s communications team informed member cooperatives and the public through news releases, social media and a storm update page on their website.
At the end of the first day, there were a lot of end-users still in the dark, both literally and figuratively. The communications team asked Washburn if he would livestream a message via NIPCO’s Facebook page. It was raw, unedited and authentic.
Within hours, Washburn’s video update was viewed nearly 3,000 times; by the next morning, that number had more than doubled.
Washburn became the face of the restoration effort, recording twice-daily video updates from the field shared across social media, with some updates garnering almost 25,000 views.
Seeing the work being done and showing that getting the power back on was personal to the entire team working on the restoration built a strong coalition of support from those without power. The team’s commitment to keeping crews safe was on display, and the videos gave member-consumers information, hope and heroes to root for throughout the storm’s aftermath.
Support from state partners
By the second day, the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives (IAEC) contacted state emergency management officials to request a disaster declaration.
“The response from the state was immediate,” notes Scott Meinecke, IAEC director of safety and loss control. “Gov. Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation on March 20 for five of the heaviest-hit Iowa counties that gave us access to additional resources and established a clear channel for ongoing state support.”
The proclamation temporarily suspended regulatory provisions related to hours of service for disaster repair crews and transportation requirements for disaster repairs.
Let there be light
NIPCO’s transmission network was designed with multiple pathways to deliver power, allowing operators to reroute electricity around damaged sections. However, NIPCO’s Vice President of Engineering and Operations Jayme Huber explains, “Winter Storm Nyla brought down three transmission lines that support the looped system, rendering the system serving western Monona County and Harrison County inoperable.”
By Saturday evening, crews had repaired the transmission mainlines, restoring power to several substations by redirecting electricity through intact portions of the system while repairs continued. This redundant design feature allowed NIPCO to announce system functionality at 9:10 p.m. on Saturday, March 22, less than four days after the monumental storm.
Power and gratitude
At its April 29 meeting, NIPCO’s board of directors unanimously passed a resolution of appreciation for all who contributed to the restoration.
“These aren’t just workers; they’re neighbors helping neighbors,” says NIPCO Board President Louis Reed, who also serves on Western Iowa Power Cooperative’s board. “Some of these folks put cooperative members before their own families. That deserves more than just a thank you.”
As NIPCO completed final repairs in early April, staff began documenting lessons learned to improve future emergency response.
“Every crisis teaches you something,” reflects Washburn. “This experience truly reinforced that the cooperative difference isn’t just marketing language – it’s a tangible advantage when facing challenges of this magnitude.”
For the communities served by NIPCO and their member distribution cooperatives, that advantage meant the difference between days and potentially weeks without power. As one Onawa resident commented on social media: “There are not enough THANK YOUs to say for all you are doing … After seeing the downed lines between Turin and Onawa today, it could have been so much worse. Situations like these only make us stronger. Go Team Power!”
That spirit – embodied in NIPCO’s “Power On” message throughout the crisis – represents both the literal restoration of electricity and the enduring resilience of rural Iowa communities coming together to support the cooperative model that serves them.
Angela Catton is the vice president of communications and development for Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative.
