Alliant Energy on Friday set a timeline for restoring electric service to the flood-damaged downtown business district in Cedar Rapids. Based upon assessments and repair of portions of the electric network that were initially accessible, the company expected to begin restoring electric service to segments of customers in the downtown business district that could safely have service restored this week.

The company began testing and inspecting the northern half of the downtown electric network after 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. If the northern half of the downtown electric network system passed all inspections and tests, the company expected to begin restoring electric service to customers early this week.

Also, the company expects to begin restoring service to the southern half of the downtown district by the end of this week. The company is in the process of completing construction work on a temporary substation that will be able to provide power to customers located generally south of Second Avenue SE. Additional information will be provided when customers located in this area can begin reconnecting electric service.

Businesses impacted by the flooding will be reconnected after all inspections and repairs by a licensed electrician and the City of Cedar Rapids are completed.

“We continue to take significant steps forward in restoring the downtown electric network that serves the downtown business district,” said Tom Aller, president – Interstate Power and Light Company, an Alliant Energy company “While we will continue working to restore power to all of our downtown business district customers over the next two weeks, completing repairs to the downtown electric network infrastructure that was damaged by the floodwaters will take months. We are utilizing all available resources in this effort and are appreciative of the additional engineering and mechanical resources from across the country that have provided their expertise in assisting our company in repairing downtown electric networks after natural disasters.”

Power plant and other facility assessment and clean-up continue as well. The Sixth Street and Prairie Creek Generating Stations will remain offline until repairs are completed. No timeline has been established as to when the power plants will be back online.

Crews continue to reconnect electricity to customers where it is safe to do so. At the peak of the flood more than 30,000 Cedar Rapids area customers were without power. Approximately 3,000 remain without power. Most of those customers are located in areas heavily affected by flood damage. Some customers whose homes have been inspected and approved for reconnection may remain without power due to electric system damage that connects to their area.

“The safety of our customers and employees remains our focus,” added Aller. “Given the historical scope of the flooding, the rebuilding will be methodical to ensure the safe and sound restoration of power. We are coordinating restoration efforts to work with our city leaders to restore power as quickly and safely as possible and we appreciate our customers’ patience during these challenging times.”