Power outages in Waterloo, IA

Live outages for Waterloo and the surrounding area, updated every 10 minutes. Waterloo has 66,919 residents.

Right now

Outages reported

Normal: fewer than 0.1% of customers out. Elevated: 0.1% or more. Major outage: 1% or more.

15customers without power in Black Hawk County

A customer is one electric account, usually one home or business, not one person. Utilities count outages this way.

Share of customers unknown

At least one utility here doesn't publish how many customers it serves in this area, so we can't show a percentage.

Updated 7 min ago

We check every utility's outage data every 10 minutes. Each utility updates its own map on its own schedule, usually every 5 to 15 minutes.

MidAmerican Energy doesn't publish a count for Waterloo itself; see its ZIP codes below.

Outage map

WaterlooBlack Hawk CountyMidAmerican Energy publishes totals only, not outage locations.

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, which includes Waterloo

2014–2025 record

Black 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)

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

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	Lasted i How long this area stayed at or above the significant-outage line, not how long any one home was without power.	Customer-hours i Customers 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).

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.