As extreme cold settles in, utilities and homeowners rely on preparation to keep heat on

By: Libbie Randall

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - With dangerously cold temperatures settling into eastern Iowa, keeping the heat on is about more than comfort for many — it’s about preparation and safety.

Experts say when temperatures drop this low, people should avoid going outside unless absolutely necessary. But for some, staying indoors isn’t an option.

At Alliant Energy, crews say they continue responding to emergency outages during extreme cold, while postponing more routine work to focus on safety.

“Let’s say we have a broken pole and that’s usually a four-man crew job — we’re probably going to call maybe two or three more people to help just so guys can take warm-up breaks and we can still continue to repair the outage,” said Garrett Gutknecht, a safety liaison with Alliant Energy.

“So we’ll do things like making sure all of our fuel inventories are topped off, we have all our consumables and miscellaneous supplies on hand so that we don’t have to worry about any delivery delays — we have everything we need,” said Matt Cole, Alliant Energy’s assistant vice president for operations and services.

While utilities prepare on a large scale, some homeowners take a more hands-on approach.

One local business owner heats his home and multiple workshops using an outdoor wood boiler — a system that burns firewood outside and pumps heat into nearby buildings. He says the system requires time and effort, but offers consistent heat across all of his spaces.

As temperatures remain dangerously low, experts say preparation — whether by utility crews or homeowners — plays a major role in staying safe during extreme weather.

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