Rock Rapids, Iowa — Thousands of people in northwest Iowa and southwest Minnesota were without power for a time early on Thursday.
Troy Metzger, dispatcher with L & O Power Coop in Rock Rapids says that the outage affected eastern Lyon County, Iowa and southern rock County Minnesota.
He says the outage happened due to an equipment failure at a sub station near Lake Pahoja about four miles northeast of Inwood. He says that sub station and the lines running to it are owned by Basin Electric Power Coop. But the substation is the point of demarcation between Basin and L & O and the lines running away from it are L & O’s. He says L & O buys power from Basin Electric.
Metzger says the systems affected were Rock Rapids Municipal Utilities, Luverne Municipal Electric, Lyon Rural Electric Coop and Sioux Valley Energy.
He says the outage included the entire cities of Rock Rapids, Iowa and Luverne, Minnesota.
Metzger says the outage started shortly before 1 AM and only lasted about 20 minutes or so because power was rerouted. He says repairs will be made as parts and labor are available
L & O is a power coop that serves rural and municipal electric systems in Rock County, Minnesota, and Lyon and Osceola Counties in Iowa.
