City of Kalona to switch to new substation for power, electricity

KALONA - Over the next few years, buildings in Kalona will begin receiving power from a new substation meant to improve service in the area.

'One disadvantage we've had is we're fed with an older antiquated (power) line,” said Kalona City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh.

The new electrical lines, currently being installed along Highway 1, connect to a substation located on the corner of Highway 1 and Highway 22. The construction is being done by Alliant Energy to update their power grid and is a result of a contract the city has with the company.

'We have a service agreement with (Alliant) to provide our primary power utility to the city,” said Schlabaugh. 'They make an investment into those communities they partner with long term. There's no city cost at all.”

According to Alliant Energy spokesperson Justin Foss, Alliant engineers identified Kalona as a community that would benefit from updated facilities. The electrical lines being installed are thicker, making them less susceptible to breaking and will allow more energy to move through them at once. According to Foss, this will make it harder for buildings to blow a fuse and easier to restore power in the event of an outage by rerouting power from other substations.

'Part of what we're doing is improving the energy grid with stronger equipment before we see problems so we can maintain reliability for our customers,” said Foss.

Foss predicts the new poles and electric lines being placed along Highway 1 will be finished this summer. Following that, Alliant will start putting up other lines through Kalona to get the city completey switched over to this new substation within the next five years.

'Hopefully it's a seamless experience for customers,” said Foss. 'Hopefully (residents) won't really be impacted by the work.”