Wisconsin first responders to conduct “Dark Sky” power outage training

The Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs is conducting a training exercise from May 15-17 in the state simulating a long-term mass power outage.

The training exercise, known as Dark Sky, will take place in Brown, Calumet, Dane, Fond du Lac, Milwaukee, Outagamie, and Winnebago Counties. It is designed to test the abilities of private utilities, law enforcement, first responders and the National Guard with regards to a massive power outage.

The Alliant Energy facility in Fond du Lac County will serve as one of the National Guard training sites.

The public should not be concerned about an increased presence of emergency responders and military personnel in those areas during the exercise. The objective is to increase understanding of the coordination, policies, and procedures required to conduct an inter-agency response.

“Dark Sky provides an incredible opportunity for our first responders, the National Guard, emergency management officials, and our private utilities industry partners to exercise our processes now so we are better prepared for threats to our power grid,” Maj. Gen. Don Dunbar, Wisconsin’s adjutant general said. “Our emergency management community must be prepared to deal with the myriad scenarios and challenges posed by a long-term mass power outage, and by training together, we continue building meaningful relationships that leave us better positioned to respond to a real-world situation.”

More than 1,000 people, including first responders, National Guard, and other military personnel, and state, local, and federal officials will participate. As part of the exercise, Wisconsin National Guard Soldiers will go door-to-door in Omro, Wisconsin, to check on residents’ health and welfare.

This is the third and final phase in a series of related training exercises that have been conducted in Wisconsin.