UPDATE (4:16 p.m.): Nearly 50 Percent of Ames Remains Without Power Following City-Wide Power Outage

Update: 4:16 p.m.

Ames officials are working rapidly to restore power following an unexplained city-wide power outage that began just before 3 p.m.

Power has been restored to a little more than 50 percent of Ames. Because of the heat, officials are working in phases so as to not compromise efforts to restore power, Assistant City Manager Melissa Mundt said.

"We are working hard to get it up as quickly possible," Mundt said. "We keep getting notified that more parts of the city have been restored.

Mundt said the city is still looking into the cause of the city-wide outage, and she did not have an estimate for when power would be restored to those still in the dark.

Just after 4 p.m. Ames police officers were directing traffic at lights along University Boulevard closest to Iowa State University including Haber.

Officers were also at 13^th Street and Stange Road.  

Iowa State University which receives power from its own plant was also affected. Iowa State Recreational services closed all facilities and the Parks Library closed until Wednesday.

Previous reporting:

Ames had a city wide power outage this afternoon.

Power went out around 3 p.m., and affected the entire city. Sections of the city were restored within 10 minutes.

Here is a news release from the city:

AMES, Iowa – (June 19, 2012 - 3:30 pm) – An electric outage reported just before 3 p.m. today affected the entire city for approximately 10 minutes before power was restored to sections of the community. The outage included the Ames Power Plant, which has since had power restored.

Ames Electric Services is working to restore electricity to those without power as quickly as possible.

Ames Electric Services customers should always call the power outage automated system at (515) 239-5240 when they experience an outage. Customers who rely on cell phones should call Customer Service at (515) 239-5120 during regular business hours to associate their cell phone number to their billing address.