Emergency electricity statistics show how disruption varies by event, region, and measurement method. In the United States, 2024 reliability data recorded unusually high interruption hours because major events dominated the national total, while official records also document large customer impacts, estimated economic costs, and household electricity pressures.
Key Emergency Electricity Statistics
The most useful headline figures span outage duration, frequency, major incidents, estimated costs, and household electricity conditions:
- In 2024, U.S. electricity customers averaged 11 hours of interruption across the year.
- In 2024, major events represented 80% of U.S. hours without electricity.
- During 2024, major-event interruptions averaged nearly 9 hours per U.S. customer.
- During 2014–2023, major-event interruptions averaged nearly 4 hours per U.S. customer per year.
- In 2024, the U.S. average interruption frequency was 1.5 instances per customer.
- In 2024, Hawaii customers averaged 4.4 interruptions per customer.
- In July 2024, Hurricane Beryl left 2.6 million Texas customers without power.
- In September 2024, Hurricane Helene left 5.9 million customers without power across 10 states.
- In 2024, South Carolina customers experienced nearly 53 hours of interruption.
- In October 2024, Hurricane Milton left 3.4 million Florida customers without power.
- In 2024, Maine recorded 1,748.6 minutes of all-event interruption per customer.
- In 2024, New England recorded 419.6 minutes of all-event interruption per customer.
- In 2024, Maine recorded 3.636 all-event interruptions per customer.
- In 2024, New England’s average all-event interruption lasted 303.6 minutes per interruption.
- In 2023, a Memphis Light Gas and Water load-loss event affected 216,000 Tennessee customers for 164 hours 10 minutes.
- For 2003–2012, DOE estimated annual weather-related outage costs at $18 billion–$33 billion in inflation-adjusted 2023-report dollars.
- In 2012, DOE reported 679 widespread severe-weather power outages in the United States.
- In 2023, the average U.S. residential electricity bill was $138 per month.
- From 2022 to 2023, the average U.S. residential electricity price rose 6.2%, from 15.04 to 15.98 cents per kWh.
- In 2023, monthly U.S. residential electricity consumption averaged 861 kWh per customer.
Contents
- How often customers lose power
- Outage duration and state reliability
- Major emergency events and affected customers
- The measured economic cost of outages
- Electricity access, bills, and household pressure
Emergency Electricity Statistics: How Often Customers Lose Power
The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2024 analysis measures interruption duration and frequency for electricity customers. Its SAIDI-style average includes major events, so the national result reflects both routine service interruptions and severe weather-related disruption.
- EIA reported 11 hours of interruption per U.S. electricity customer in 2024.
- Major events accounted for 80% of U.S. hours without electricity in 2024.
- Major-event interruptions averaged nearly 9 hours per customer in 2024, compared with nearly 4 hours per customer per year during 2014–2023.
- EIA describes non-major-event service interruptions as routinely averaging about 2 hours per customer per year, an approximate recurring pattern rather than a precise annual series.
- The U.S. average interruption frequency was 1.5 interruptions per customer in 2024.
- Hawaii recorded 4.4 interruptions per customer in 2024; EIA associates the frequency with weather, volcanic activity, plant outages, and connection issues.
These measures answer different questions. SAIDI describes total duration experienced by an average customer, while SAIFI counts interruptions, meaning a location can have frequent short interruptions or fewer but much longer outages.
Source: EIA, “Hurricanes in 2024 led to the most hours without power in the United States in 10 years”.
Emergency Electricity Outage Duration and State Reliability Data
State and regional reliability metrics show why a national average can conceal major geographic differences. The EIA Electric Power Annual table reports all-event measures, which include events classified as major, alongside no-major-event measures.
| Geography | 2024 all-event SAIDI | 2024 all-event SAIFI | 2024 all-event CAIDI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connecticut | 153.6 minutes/customer | 0.876 interruptions/customer | 175.5 minutes/interruption |
| Maine | 1,748.6 minutes/customer | 3.636 interruptions/customer | 480.9 minutes/interruption |
| New England | 419.6 minutes/customer | 1.382 interruptions/customer | 303.6 minutes/interruption |
SAIDI is total interruption duration for an average customer, SAIFI is interruption count, and CAIDI is average duration per interruption. The New England figure is a census-division aggregate, while Connecticut and Maine are state measures, so the values should be read as different geographic levels rather than identical populations.
The table also shows the effect of excluding major events. New England’s 2024 no-major-event SAIDI was 112.3 minutes per customer, while Maine’s was 274.0 minutes per customer.
Those figures are not forecasts; they are observed 2024 reliability measures under the table’s no-major-event classification.
Major Emergency Electricity Events and Customers Affected
Individual event records illustrate the scale and duration of severe disruptions. The EIA Major Disturbances and Unusual Occurrences table lists incidents, but its event records should not be summed as unique annual customers because the same customer could appear in more than one event.
| Event and geography | Period | Reported duration | Customers affected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Edison severe weather, Michigan | March 3–5, 2023 | 42 hours 11 minutes | 200,000 |
| Duke Energy Midwest severe weather, Ohio and Kentucky | March 3, 2023 | 1 hour 26 minutes | 57,186 |
| American Electric Power severe weather, Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia | April 1–3, 2023 | 44 hours 47 minutes | 118,000 |
| Memphis Light Gas and Water load loss, Tennessee | July 18–25, 2023 | 164 hours 10 minutes | 216,000 |
| Baltimore Gas and Electric weather, Maryland | July 29–August 1, 2023 | 63 hours | 53,630 |
| Oncor weather, Texas | September 8–10, 2023 | 43 hours 16 minutes | 190,000 |
Other 2023 EIA records add breadth to the event picture. An American Electric Power event on March 25 affected 160,801 customers in Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia; a Memphis Light Gas and Water weather event on June 25 affected 120,000 Tennessee customers; and a Duke Energy Midwest event on June 29 affected 140,000 Indiana customers.
The same table reports 163,156 customers affected by an Evergy event in Missouri and Kansas on July 14, 2023, and 246,000 customers affected by a Detroit Edison event in Michigan on July 26. A ComEd event in Illinois affected 122,921 customers over 37 hours from July 28–30, while an ISO New England event affected 114,000 customers over 30 hours 50 minutes from September 8–9.
Several records do not include a complete restoration duration. The affected-customer counts remain event-specific observations, not estimates of distinct people or households.
Source: EIA, “Electric Power Monthly: Table B.2 Major Disturbances and Unusual Occurrences”.
The 2024 hurricane season produced additional large customer impacts:
- Hurricane Beryl left 2.6 million Texas customers without power in July 2024.
- Hurricane Helene left 5.9 million customers without power across 10 states in September 2024, including at least 1.2 million affected customers in South Carolina.
- Hurricane Milton left 3.4 million Florida customers without power in October 2024.
The Measured Economic Cost of Emergency Electricity Outages
Outage costs are not the same as utility bills. DOE presents model-based estimates for weather-related economic losses, and the ranges reflect different assumptions and data rather than a single measured billing total.
| Period or event | DOE or cited estimate | What it represents |
|---|---|---|
| 2003–2012 | $18 billion–$33 billion per year | Inflation-adjusted weather-related outage costs in 2023-report dollars |
| 2008 | $40 billion–$75 billion | Estimate associated with Hurricane Ike |
| 2012 | $27 billion–$52 billion | Estimate associated with Superstorm Sandy |
| 2012 estimate cited by DOE | $25 billion–$70 billion per year | Congressional Research Service annual weather-related outage estimate |
DOE also reported 679 widespread severe-weather power outages in 2012. That event count uses the report-era definition and is not directly comparable with every modern outage metric.
The 2008 and 2012 figures are event-associated estimates, while the 2003–2012 figure is an annual range across a longer period. They should not be treated as forecasts for a later year or added together as separate totals.
Emergency Electricity Access, Bills, and Household Pressure
Household electricity statistics provide context for emergency preparedness without measuring ownership of backup generators or portable power stations. EIA’s bill estimates are based on utility revenue divided by residential consumption, and 2023 data were preliminary and sample-based.
- The average U.S. residential electricity bill was $138 per month in 2023, compared with $135 per month in 2022.
- The average residential bill rose 2% from 2022 to 2023; this is a nominal change in the average bill.
- The average U.S. residential electricity price rose 6.2%, from 15.04 cents per kWh in 2022 to 15.98 cents per kWh in 2023.
- Monthly residential electricity consumption averaged 861 kWh per U.S. customer in 2023, down from 899 kWh in 2022.
- Hawaii had the highest average monthly residential electricity bill at $213 in 2023; EIA points to petroleum-fired generation and island-grid conditions as contributors to high prices.
The consumption figures are not direct measures of emergency backup use, and the bill figures are not estimates of outage losses. They instead describe the ordinary electricity cost and usage environment in which households may evaluate emergency electricity needs.
Source: EIA, “Increases in U.S. residential electricity bills in 2023 were outpaced by inflation”.