Which states lose power the most?
The average US electricity customer was without power for about 4.4 hours in 2025, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). West Virginia had the longest outages, at 16.9 hours per customer, and the District of Columbia the shortest, at 50 minutes. In 2024, a year of major hurricanes, the national average was 10.2 hours.
- Big storms and other major events made up 54% of the national total in 2025. Without them the average customer lost about 2.0 hours.
- That everyday figure has barely moved: between 1.9 hours and 2.1 hours a year from 2016 to 2025. The swings from year to year come from major events.
- Over those ten years, Louisiana (19.8 hours a year), Maine (19.3 hours a year) and West Virginia (14.3 hours a year) averaged the most time without power. The US average was 6.4 hours a year.
- The longest year for any state in the decade was Louisiana in 2021: 80.2 hours per customer.
Every state ranked
Hours without power per customer. Tap a state for its utilities' outage maps and live weather alerts.
| # | State | 2025 | No major events | Interruptions | 2016–25 avg | Worst year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Virginia | 16.9 | 8.3 | 3.1 | 14.3 | 2024 (19.4) |
| 2 | Michigan | 11.2 | 2.7 | 1.4 | 10.1 | 2023 (18.2) |
| 3 | Nebraska | 9.1 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 4.1 | 2024 (10.7) |
| 4 | Alaska | 9.0 | 4.0 | 3.2 | 5.7 | 2022 (9.6) |
| 5 | Mississippi | 8.4 | 5.1 | 2.6 | 11.0 | 2020 (24.9) |
| 6 | Arkansas | 7.7 | 3.4 | 2.1 | 8.1 | 2023 (15.2) |
| 7 | Pennsylvania | 7.6 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 4.8 | 2018 (8.6) |
| 8 | Missouri | 7.6 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 4.2 | 2025 (7.6) |
| 9 | Virginia | 7.4 | 3.0 | 1.9 | 6.1 | 2022 (9.9) |
| 10 | Kentucky | 6.8 | 2.9 | 1.9 | 7.1 | 2023 (14.5) |
| 11 | Indiana | 6.2 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 5.0 | 2023 (7.6) |
| 12 | Washington | 6.2 | 2.4 | 1.4 | 5.7 | 2024 (10.4) |
| 13 | Alabama | 6.2 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 6.8 | 2020 (29.1) |
| 14 | Maine | 6.1 | 3.2 | 2.2 | 19.3 | 2017 (41.5) |
| 15 | California | 5.7 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 4.8 | 2019 (9.8) |
| 16 | Idaho | 5.1 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 4.2 | 2021 (7.9) |
| 17 | Oregon | 5.0 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 6.7 | 2021 (24.8) |
| 18 | Montana | 4.8 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 3.8 | 2024 (5.9) |
| 19 | Oklahoma | 4.8 | 2.4 | 1.8 | 9.8 | 2020 (48.7) |
| 20 | Hawaii | 4.7 | 3.1 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 2023 (8.2) |
| 21 | Colorado | 4.5 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 2.9 | 2025 (4.5) |
| 22 | Louisiana | 4.5 | 3.6 | 2.3 | 19.8 | 2021 (80.2) |
| 23 | Georgia | 4.5 | 2.5 | 1.9 | 7.9 | 2024 (20.5) |
| 24 | South Dakota | 4.5 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 2.8 | 2022 (5.5) |
| 25 | Vermont | 4.4 | 3.1 | 1.7 | 9.7 | 2022 (16.1) |
| 26 | New Hampshire | 3.9 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 8.8 | 2017 (18.6) |
| 27 | Wisconsin | 3.8 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 3.7 | 2019 (5.9) |
| 28 | Tennessee | 3.8 | 2.5 | 1.6 | 6.4 | 2023 (14.3) |
| 29 | Wyoming | 3.7 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 3.1 | 2020 (4.8) |
| 30 | Texas | 3.7 | 2.1 | 1.7 | 8.3 | 2024 (21.2) |
| 31 | Ohio | 3.4 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 5.0 | 2024 (8.5) |
| 32 | North Dakota | 3.4 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 2022 (9.3) |
| 33 | Kansas | 3.3 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 3.9 | 2017 (6.1) |
| 34 | North Carolina | 3.2 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 10.2 | 2018 (29.4) |
| 35 | Connecticut | 3.1 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 8.0 | 2020 (44.0) |
| 36 | Rhode Island | 3.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.3 | 2017 (12.1) |
| 37 | Minnesota | 3.0 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 2.9 | 2016 (5.0) |
| 38 | Maryland | 3.0 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 2.8 | 2018 (5.6) |
| 39 | New Mexico | 2.9 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 2.9 | 2024 (4.6) |
| 40 | New Jersey | 2.6 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 4.4 | 2020 (16.1) |
| 41 | Iowa | 2.5 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 4.8 | 2020 (29.3) |
| 42 | South Carolina | 2.5 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 11.7 | 2024 (52.3) |
| 43 | Illinois | 2.4 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 2020 (5.5) |
| 44 | Nevada | 2.1 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 2022 (3.3) |
| 45 | New York | 2.0 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 3.5 | 2020 (6.8) |
| 46 | Massachusetts | 2.0 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 4.9 | 2018 (13.6) |
| 47 | Utah | 2.0 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 2020 (9.6) |
| 48 | Delaware | 1.7 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 2020 (4.5) |
| 49 | Florida | 1.2 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 10.4 | 2017 (41.7) |
| 50 | Arizona | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 2022 (2.3) |
| 51 | District of Columbia | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 2016 (1.9) |
Source: EIA, Electric Power Annual, tables 11.3 and 11.4 (any method). "No major events" leaves out the days each utility counts as major events. Interruptions: the average number per customer in 2025. On a phone, turn sideways or download the full table (CSV) for every column and year.
The longest years
The state-years with the most hours without power per customer, 2016 to 2025.
- 1Louisiana 202180.2 h
- 2Louisiana 202060.4 h
- 3South Carolina 202452.3 h
- 4Oklahoma 202048.7 h
- 5Connecticut 202044.0 h
- 6Florida 201741.7 h
- 7Maine 201741.5 h
- 8Maine 202331.1 h
What the figures measure
Each figure is the System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI), which utilities report to EIA every year: the minutes of non-momentary interruptions the average customer had in the year. We show it in hours. A state figure is the average across all its reporting utilities' customers, so your own utility may be better or worse.
Major events are the days that are far worse than normal. For utilities using the IEEE standard, EIA explains, a major event day is one whose outage time crosses a threshold worked out from the past five years of daily figures. Other utilities decide for themselves what counts.
These are EIA's "any method" figures, which combine utilities that use the IEEE standard with those that don't and covered 95% of US customers in 2025. EIA's headline national numbers use IEEE reporters only, so they can differ a little (11 hours for 2024 on that measure). In some states, few customers are served by IEEE reporters, so the any-method figures are the fairer comparison between states.
Get ready for the next one
- Your utility's outage map, for every state.
- Power outage checklist: what to do before, during and after, from Ready.gov and CDC.
- Build a power outage kit sized to your household.
- Backup power compared: portable power stations, generators and home backup batteries.
Questions
Which state has the most power outages?
In 2025, West Virginia: the average customer there was without power for 16.9 hours, the most of any state in the US Energy Information Administration's figures. Over 2016 to 2025, Louisiana had the highest average, 19.8 hours a year.
How long does the average American go without power each year?
About 4.4 hours in 2025, across about 1.3 interruptions, according to EIA. In 2024, a year of major hurricanes, it was 10.2 hours. The ten-year average for 2016 to 2025 is 6.4 hours a year.
Which states have the fewest power outages?
In 2025: the District of Columbia (50 minutes), Arizona (1.2 hours) and Florida (1.2 hours). Over 2016 to 2025, the lowest averages were in the District of Columbia (1.1 hours a year), Arizona (1.6 hours a year) and Nevada (2.0 hours a year).
Using these figures? The full table for 2016–2025 (CSV, hours per customer, with and without major events) is free to use. The data is EIA's; a link to this page is appreciated.
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Sources (4)
- US Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Annual, Table 11.4: SAIDI by state, 2015-2025
- US Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Annual, Table 11.3: reliability metrics by state (any method), 2025 and 2024
- US Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Annual, Table 11.2: reliability metrics using IEEE by state, with the share of customers reported
- EIA, Today in Energy: Hurricanes in 2024 led to the most hours without power in the United States in 10 years