Is there going to be a blackout this week? What the grid and outage data show now

Is there going to be a blackout this week? What people are asking

"Is there going to be a blackout this week" is a question people type, not a headline from one outlet. A viral post naming November 17 has kept it in the news this month. We checked it against three things: our own reading of the government's outage data, the National Weather Service's warnings and forecasts, and the grid assessments published by NERC, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.

We found no notice of a planned or rolling blackout this week, and nothing pointing to a nationwide one, in the sources we read. That is what we found, not a promise that your street keeps its power: local outages happen every day, and your utility's outage map is the only live answer for your home.

What the outage data shows this week

ODIN, the Outage Data Initiative Nationwide, is "led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Electricity." It publishes "power outage information provided by utilities in near-real time at county level." Only utilities that have joined ODIN report to it, so it is a partial count, not every outage in the country.

In ODIN's latest snapshot, taken at 5 p.m. ET on November 11, 5,831 customers (meters) were without power, after we drop rows for outages that began more than 7 days earlier. On November 5 the figure was 11,946. The largest totals were in California (2,636), Texas (837) and Washington (710).

For balance: it was not a quiet week everywhere. On November 8 the snapshot showed 32,479 customers out, 24,909 of them in Washington state, the highest of the 16 daily snapshots we have kept since October 27. The lowest was 5,593 on October 29. These are our readings of ODIN's data. Every state's figure and its time are on our power outages page, and your utility's own outage map is fresher than any national count.

What the weather service says for the week ahead

Most household outages follow weather, so we read the National Weather Service. At about 6:45 a.m. ET on November 12 its alerts feed listed 4 winter storm warnings, for the Lake Tahoe area, Mono County and the Sierra in California and Nevada, and 2 high wind warnings, for the south central Oregon coast and Curry County coast, and Central Siskiyou County, California. It listed 2 blizzard warnings on Alaska's Arctic coast, and no ice storm, hurricane, tropical storm or extreme cold warnings anywhere.

The Weather Prediction Center's extended forecast, issued at 2 a.m. ET on November 12 for Sunday, November 15 to Thursday, November 19, says "Multiple rounds of moderate to occasionally heavy precipitation are forecast for the West," with snow in the Sierra and northern California ranges and "moderate accumulations likely Sunday into Monday." It expects "moderate to locally heavy rainfall" in the southern half of Texas and along the Gulf Coast, and highs "about 5-10 degrees below average" on Sunday from the Southeast to the Mid-Atlantic, with "a slow moderating trend toward midweek." It does not forecast outages; that is the weather service's outlook, not ours. Warnings for your area are on our live alerts page.

What the grid assessments say about this month and this winter

NERC publishes a Winter Reliability Assessment for the December to February season. On November 12 its winter assessments page listed nothing newer than the 2025/2026 edition, and the address that follows last year's naming returned no file, so we could not read this winter's assessment yet.

The 2025-2026 assessment said "All areas are assessed as having adequate resources for normal winter peak-load conditions," and that "more extreme winter conditions extending over a wide area could result in electricity supply shortfalls." It named some areas at elevated risk in that case. Several of its regional entries say "Load shedding is unlikely but may be needed under wide-area cold weather events." That is a planning assessment of the bulk power system in extreme conditions, not a forecast that blackouts are coming. Our winter grid guide goes through it region by region, and our 2026 grid check covers the longer view.

Is a blackout planned for November 17?

No outage is scheduled that day in anything we found. What is scheduled is a test: FEMA and the FCC "will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) at approximately 2:20 p.m. Eastern Time, Tuesday, November 17, 2026." Radio and TV broadcasters will interrupt normal programming with a message that says "This is only a test. No action is required by the public." Our November 17 check covers the viral posts and the test in full.

Why outages happen, and what that means for your home

In 2024, most hours without power came from major storms, not from the grid running short. EIA says US customers averaged 11 hours of interruptions in 2024 and that "Major events such as Hurricanes Beryl, Helene, and Milton accounted for 80% of the hours without electricity in 2024." Without major events, it says, interruptions "routinely average about two hours per year."

So the useful preparation is the same in any week. CDC says to "Store at least 1 gallon of water per person, per day for 3 days" and to "Try to store a 2-week supply if possible." Ready.gov says to "Have flashlights for every household member" and to keep freezers and refrigerators closed. CDC says a refrigerator keeps food safe "for up to 4 hours" and a full freezer "for 48 hours (24 hours if half-full)" if you don't open the door. Our power outage checklist has the full list, and our kit builder sizes it to your household.

• Water: at least 1 gallon per person, per day for 3 days, a 2-week supply if possible (CDC)
• Flashlights for every household member (Ready.gov)
• Keep the fridge and freezer closed in an outage (Ready.gov, CDC)
• If you rely on medicines that need refrigeration or powered medical devices, have an alternate plan (Ready.gov)
• Check your utility's outage map, not national totals, for your street

What not to do

Don't buy a generator or a power station because of a viral date or an assessment label. Nothing we found points to a blackout this week, and the official basics, water, food, flashlights and a battery-powered radio, are what help in an ordinary outage.

If you do run a generator in an outage, CDC's rule is firm: "Never use a generator, pressure washer, or any gasoline-powered engine inside your home, basement, or garage or less than 20 feet from any window, door, or vent." Our generator safety guide explains why. And don't read a national outage count as a forecast for your town: it is a snapshot of one moment, from the utilities that report.