Electrical service, which we all accept today as a way of life, was not available to most farmers and ranchers in the early 1930s. Even the smaller communities had no electric service unless they generated their own.

In the spring of 1935, the Council of the Swede Home Church appointed Petrus C. Nelson and Alex Adelson as a committee to see if enough people in Polk County would be interested in organizing a Public Power District. A meeting was held in the Swede Home Church parlor on May 6, 1935, and as a result, a district was organized. Petrus Nelson was elected president of the new district and Agvall S. Torell was elected secretary. Swede Home was chosen as the place of business for the district. Nine directors were elected to the board, one from each precinct as follows: Petrus C. Nelson, Maurice G. Lindburg, C. B. Knerr, Victor Thelander, George H. Bond, William Kosch, Albert Schulz, Fred Cockson, and Adolph Grossnicklaus.

A loan in the amount of $367,500 was approved by the Rural Electrification Administration in October 1936 for the construction of the first lines. In April 1937, Sandberg & Johnson Construction Company was awarded a contract to build lines. Mr. G. E. Ekstrand was employed as Project Superintendent, and in June 1938 the energization of the lines was celebrated. Mrs. Milo Austin had the honor of closing the switch, which started the electricity flowing in the lines.

The City of Stromsburg connected to the lines of the new District in November 1941. The District's offices, which had been located in the lower level of the Stromsburg Bank building since 1937, moved to its present location in 1950. A dedication ceremony was held in December of that year.

Public Safety

Safety and health is a way of life, both at home and at work. Without question, it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure a safe and healthy environment. In order to develop safe living, efforts are focused on improving safe behaviors of Polk County RPPD employees and their customers. Polk County RPPD employees believe: Safety comes first! By routine training and practicing safety on a daily basis, employees develop a habit for safety not only at work but also in their personal lives. Employees feel that accidents can be reduced or eliminated through safe work habits. One of our safety practices for our employees includes annual pole top rescue training. All lineman are trained to know what to do in the event a co-worker may be injured on top of the pole or on the ground.

Electrical safety is not just district employee responsibility, but everyone’s responsibility. Educating the public about electric use, safety and potential hazards is a very important part of our safety program.

Educating the youth in communities within our service area is also very important. We work jointly with the Polk County Extension office in coordinating safety programs either at the fairgrounds, on-site or at the six schools in the service area. Safety demonstrations are also given to 4-H groups, industrial arts classes, or adult groups. We use a “Live Line Demo” to convey the lethal affects of electricity when it is not being used safely.

If you are interested in learning more about electrical safety don’t hesitate, call for more information today.

Voltage Fluctuation or Power Surges

Voltage fluctuations

There are many different reasons that voltage may fluctuate at your service.  The two most noticeably fluctuations are through dimming or unusually brighter than normal lighting and noting that electrical motors sound different.

If you notice either of these conditions, or any others, contact Polk County RPPD immediately.  Voltage fluctuation can damage or destroy electrical appliances or motors.

Power surges

Power surges are sudden powerful increases in voltage that can damage or destroy household appliances and electronic equipment.  While lightning is dramatic in effect, it is by no means the major cause of power surges.  Birds, animals and trees interfering with power lines and auto accidents involving utility poles may cause power surges.

Just think about it…when was the last time you noticed your lights dim momentarily?  If you have experienced a power surge of any magnitude, please contact Polk County RPPD at 402/764-4381 as soon as possible.

Outage Information

Reliability of electrical service ranks high among Polk County Rural Public Power District priorities. When an outage does occur, please call our office:

Linemen are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Report all trouble calls or outages to: (402) 764-4381

If you experience an outage or other service problems, there are a few steps you can follow to expedite the service call and restoration of power.  Please have the following information available when reporting the service problem.

• Check your breakers or fuses.
• Check to see if your neighbors have power.
• Indicate your name or the name the account may be listed under.
• Give the account number as listed on your monthly statement.
• If you don’t have the account number available, you may get the meter serial number off the meter.
• Know the legal description or street address for the location of the service without power.

Outages cannot always be prevented.  Storms, high winds, lightning, tree contact, animal contact, and vehicle accidents are among the most common causes for power outages.  It is a common work practice for PCRPPD to perform maintenance programs to ensure equipment is updated and functioning properly.  A continued right-of-way tree trimming program has eliminated many outages over past years.  No matter how hard we work at keeping outages to a minimum, the causes of some outages are beyond our control.