massoutage

2020 Iowa Power Outage Report

In 2020, the average Iowa customer went without power for about 27.4 hours — the 4th worst of any US state that year, 6.2× the state's decade average. Figures from DOE/ORNL EAGLE-I.

Avg hrs / customer
27.4
Peak customers out
114,873
Rank (worst state)
4th
Counties affected
20

Iowa outages over the decade

Average hours without power per customer, 2020 highlighted.

1.1h20151.8h20162.0h20172.2h20182.2h201927.4h20202.7h20211.6h20222.0h20233.2h20242.9h2025

Hardest-hit Iowa counties in 2020

By peak customers out during the year's worst event.

1Polk County114,8732Linn County109,3893Scott County56,2994Johnson County51,7775Story County35,8366Clinton County21,2647Dallas County19,1498Marshall County16,6629Jasper County14,95410Pottawattamie County10,55311Benton County10,17812Boone County9,75713Poweshiek County8,16414Black Hawk County8,07815Tama County6,84816Iowa County6,82817Washington County6,81718Des Moines County6,65819Keokuk County6,57620Cedar County6,196

Biggest Iowa outages of 2020

CountyBeganPeak customers out
Polk CountyAugust 10, 2020114,873
Linn CountyAugust 10, 2020109,389
Scott CountyAugust 10, 202056,299
Johnson CountyAugust 10, 202051,777
Story CountyAugust 10, 202035,836
Clinton CountyAugust 10, 202021,264
Linn CountyJuly 11, 202019,584
Dallas CountyAugust 10, 202019,149
Marshall CountyAugust 10, 202016,662
Jasper CountyAugust 10, 202014,954
Iowa by year:20252024202320222021201920182017
Other states in 2020:LAMEOKALNCMS

Part of the 2020 US Power Outage Report. Source: DOE/ORNL EAGLE-I. “Avg hours per customer” is a SAIDI-like measure (outage customer-minutes ÷ tracked customers); coverage varies by year.