Power outages in Black Hawk County, IA
Live outage counts for Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Evansdale and the rest of Black Hawk County, updated every 10 minutes from MidAmerican Energy.
Right now
Outages reported
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Normal: fewer than 0.1% of customers out. Elevated: 0.1% or more. Major outage: 1% or more.15customers without power
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A customer is one electric account, usually one home or business, not one person. Utilities count outages this way.Interstate Power and Light Cono live feedAlso serves this county, per federal utility records. Check its own outage map.
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This utility doesn't publish outage data we can read automatically, so it isn't in our totals. Its own outage map has its current outages.i
From EIA Form 861, the U.S. Energy Information Administration's yearly survey of every electric utility and the areas it serves.Cedar Falls Utilitiesno live feedAlso serves this county, per federal utility records. Check its own outage map.
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This utility doesn't publish outage data we can read automatically, so it isn't in our totals. Its own outage map has its current outages.i
From EIA Form 861, the U.S. Energy Information Administration's yearly survey of every electric utility and the areas it serves.East-Central Iowa Rural Elec Coopno live feedAlso serves this county, per federal utility records. Check its own outage map.
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This utility doesn't publish outage data we can read automatically, so it isn't in our totals. Its own outage map has its current outages.i
From EIA Form 861, the U.S. Energy Information Administration's yearly survey of every electric utility and the areas it serves.Grundy County Rural Elec Coopno live feedAlso serves this county, per federal utility records. Check its own outage map.
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This utility doesn't publish outage data we can read automatically, so it isn't in our totals. Its own outage map has its current outages.i
From EIA Form 861, the U.S. Energy Information Administration's yearly survey of every electric utility and the areas it serves.Outage map
County outlineMidAmerican Energy publishes totals only, not outage locations.
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Some utilities publish only how many customers are out, not where. Their outages are in the counts but can't be drawn on the map.Outage history in Black Hawk County
2014–2025 recordBlack Hawk County averaged 17.7 significant outages a year in 2023–2025, about typical for Iowa counties.
In the 12 months to December 2025, there were 24. Half were over within 1.5 hours; the longest lasted 16 hours, starting July 30, 2025.
The largest on record began September 22, 2016, with 32,746 customers out at once.
Outages are most common in July.
17.7significant outages a year (2023–2025)
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At least 1% of the area's customers, and at least 100, without power at the same time. Outages less than 6 hours apart count as one.1 hourtypical (median) length
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Half of significant outages here ended sooner than this, and half lasted longer.22 hourslongest on record (May 2017)
32,746most customers out at once
| Largest events (start) | Peak out | LastediHow long this area stayed at or above the significant-outage line, not how long any one home was without power. | Customer-hoursiCustomers out multiplied by hours out, added up over the event. 1,000 customers out for 3 hours is 3,000 customer-hours. |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 22, 2016 | 32,746 | 3.5 hours | 54,466 |
| September 9, 2019 | 14,037 | 18 hours | 79,774 |
| July 30, 2025 | 12,895 | 16 hours | 56,696 |
| March 7, 2017 | 8,304 | 4.5 hours | 19,612 |
| July 15, 2020 | 8,078 | 3.5 hours | 12,843 |
Recorded outages from EAGLE-I, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (CC BY 4.0).i
From EAGLE-I, Oak Ridge National Laboratory's record of utility outage data every 15 minutes since 2014 (CC BY 4.0). It covered about 9 in 10 U.S. customers.
If your power is out
Report it to your utility
- MidAmerican Energy: outage map and reporting
- Stay at least 35 feet from downed power lines and report them right away.
Food safety
- 0–4 hKeep the fridge closed. It keeps food cold for about 4 hours.
- 4 h+Throw out meat, dairy and leftovers that have been above 40°F for more than 2 hours.
- 24 hA half-full freezer holds about 24 hours if kept closed.
- 48 hA full freezer holds about 48 hours.
Generators, heat and cold
- Run generators outside only, at least 20 feet from windows and doors. Never in a garage.
- Use a battery-powered carbon monoxide alarm.
- Never heat your home with a gas stove or oven.
Cities in Black Hawk County
Utilities
- MidAmerican Energy
- Interstate Power and Light Co no live feed
- Cedar Falls Utilities no live feed
- East-Central Iowa Rural Elec Coop no live feed
- Grundy County Rural Elec Coop no live feed
- La Porte City Utilities no live feed
- All Iowa outages