Xcel Planning Power Outage in Central Minnesota City

Originally published March 5th, 2024

Updated 10:31 a.m. March 15th, 2024

(KNSI) – Xcel Energy has scheduled a planned power outage on Saturday, March 16th, in the heart of Benton County.

Crews will be upgrading a distribution line that serves around 2,000 customers from 7:00-10:00 a.m. in Foley. The utility says the work should help avoid similar service disruptions to those that have affected customers in the past.

Community Relations Manager Scott Johnson explains how Xcel diagnosed the problem. “After a recent outage in Foley caused by the existing wire, we told the community we’d look into the root cause. Replacing this wire will best ensure reliability in the area.”

He notes that the upgrade was slotted for a time that minimizes disruptions to the city. “We know losing power is inconvenient for our customers, so we’ve scheduled this work on a Saturday morning to minimize the impact. Our crews will safely make the repair and restore power to the community.”

Xcel has some recommendations to help handle the outage. They want residents to turn off alarm systems and appliances that are sensitive to power surges, have batteries on hand, charge their cell phones to full power beforehand, and keep their refrigerator and freezer doors closed to lock in the cold.

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