North West Rural Electric Coop, IA
How often North West Rural Electric Coop goes out
North West Rural Electric Coop customers in Iowa had 1.1 interruptions last year, 3.1 hours without power in total - above the typical US utility's outage time by about 1.1×. That is 24% more outage time than the Iowa state average of 2.5 hours a year.
Outage length, and what it means for a generator
2.8 hours is the average length of a single outage here - past comfortable battery range, which is where a portable generator becomes the better buy. More on that split in how often versus how long an outage runs.
The generator question for North West Rural Electric Coop
Serving 10,461 customers here, Given how often North West Rural Electric Coop goes out, you should consider a backup generator rather than treat it as optional.
How North West Rural Electric Coop's record was measured
These figures come from EIA Form 861, the reliability report a member-owned cooperative like North West Rural Electric Coop files with federal regulators every year - serving 10,461 customers hereaveraged across the whole territory, not any one address or storm. See Iowa as a whole, across every utility that filed: Iowa's outage record. Storm days are counted in - here is why.