The general manager of the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives says there’s no need to panic about the recent power outage that struck the northeast.Brian Kading says the exact cause of the August outage should be determined first, and then all utilities should step back and look at their systems to ensure whatever happened to cause the outage doesn’t occur in the future. Kading says reliability is a major focus for electric cooperatives. Kading says electric co-ops work hard to maintain the reliable source of power for rural Iowans who want to maintain the same style of life as their city friends. Kading says Iowa is somewhat unique when it comes to the power lines that transmit electricity, as the lines are jointly-owned by investor-owned utilities, the electric co-ops and municipal systems. Because of that arrangement, Kading says it’s safe to say Iowa transmission lines are of equal quality and well-maintained. Kading and a group of Iowa R-E-C board members were among 500 electric coop officials from Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin who met this week in Springfield, Illinois to discuss utility issues.