SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — The monumental blackout in Texas caused by the unseasonably cold showed how extreme weather can push a power grid to the brink.
The average U.S. electricity customer loses power for 1.5 to 2 hours a year, even before extreme weather events are taken into account, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. As the Texas experience has shown, hurricanes, blizzards, heat waves and other extreme weather events can make such holidays dramatically worse.
Customers in New York state experienced 2.85 hours without power in 2019 — 1.85 fewer hours than the national average of 4.7 hours in 2019, the most recent information available, according to the EIA.
Nationally, 3.2 hours of downtime occurred during major events, such as hurricanes and blizzards in 2019, and 1.5 hours during non-major events.
2019's average outage time was less than 2018 and 2017, where total average outage times were nearly six hours and nearly eight hours, respectively. However, 2019's average total downtime was higher than from 2013 to 2016, according to the EIA.
The number of hours without power can vary greatly from state to state, especially when many extreme weather events such as hurricanes, blizzards, and wildfires occur. North Carolina electricity customers likely remember many hours of darkness during 2018 — the average customer in that state spent nearly 30 hours without power, much of it due to Hurricanes Michael and Florence.
The states with the highest average total downtime per customer in 2019 were Maine, West Virginia, California, Michigan and Mississippi, according to the EIA. Maine had severe winter storms and California had large wildfires.
The states with the least average downtime were Florida, Nevada, Arizona, Nebraska and Washington, DC
The EIA collects outage data from utilities annually and requests information with and without major outages. The two main measurements are:
- How often the average customer experiences a non-instantaneous power outage over the course of a year, referred to as the Average System Outage Frequency Index.
- How many minutes the average customer is without power per year is referred to as the average system outage duration indicator.
Most utilities use standards developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to make their calculations. The IEEE uses a complex formula based on a utility's historical data to determine whether an outage qualifies as a major event. It also only counts interruptions longer than five minutes.
Utilities are mainly owned by investors, cooperatives or municipalities. Investor-owned utility customers spent an average of 5.1 hours without power in 2019, while municipal customers spent an average of 2.1 hours and cooperative customers had about five hours without the lights.
Here's how utilities in New York fared during 2019, according to EIA data.
Editor's Note: This list was automatically generated using data collected by the US Energy Information Administration. Please report any bugs or other feedback to content@patch.com. Can't find the utility provider you're looking for? Try searching for it here.
Consolidated Edison Co-NY Inc
- Owner Type: Investor
- Number of customers: 3,504,987
- IEEE standard followed: No
- Average customer hours without power, including highlights: 0.69
- Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 0.48
- Number of outages for an average customer, including major events: 0.2
- Number of outages for an average customer, excluding major events: 0.15
Niagara Mohawk Power Corp.
- Owner Type: Investor
- Number of customers: 1,653,855
- IEEE standard followed: Yes
- Average customer hours without power, including highlights: 5.42
- Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 2.26
- Number of outages for an average customer, including major events: 1.49
- Number of outages for an average customer, excluding major events: 1.05
Long Island Power Authority
- Owner Type: condition
- Number of customers: 1,128,693
- IEEE standard followed: No
- Average customer hours without power, including highlights: 2.84
- Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 0.86
- Number of outages for an average customer, including major events: 0.98
- Number of outages for an average customer, excluding major events: 0.67
New York State Elec & Gas Corp
- Owner Type: Investor
- Number of customers: 895,050
- IEEE standard followed: No
- Average customer hours without power, including highlights: 5.95
- Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 2.6
- Number of outages for an average customer, including major events: 1.9
- Number of outages for an average customer, excluding major events: 1.35
Rochester Gas & Electric Corp
- Owner Type: Investor
- Number of customers: 379.141
- IEEE standard followed: No
- Average customer hours without power, including highlights: 2.24
- Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 1.33
- Number of outages for an average customer, including major events: 0.92
- Number of outages for an average customer, excluding major events: 0.72
Central Hudson Gas & Elec Corp
- Owner Type: Investor
- Number of customers: 307,024
- IEEE standard followed: No
- Average customer hours without power, including highlights: 4.85
- Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 2.97
- Number of outages for an average customer, including major events: 1.5
- Number of outages for an average customer, excluding major events: 1.2
Orange & Rockland Utils Inc
- Owner Type: Investor
- Number of customers: 229.181
- IEEE standard followed: No
- Average customer hours without power, including highlights: 3.42
- Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 1.9
- Number of outages for an average customer, including major events: 1.37
- Number of outages for an average customer, excluding major events: 1.09
Village of Fairport – (NY)
- Owner Type: Municipal
- Number of customers: 17,623
- IEEE standard followed: Yes
- Average customer hours without power, including major events: 0.66
- Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 0.36
- Number of outages for an average customer, including major events: 0.49
- Number of outages for an average customer, excluding major events: 0.34
Village of Freeport – (NY)
- Owner Type: Municipal
- Number of customers: 14,613
- IEEE standard followed: Yes
- Average customer hours without power, including highlights: 0.18
- Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 0.18
- Number of outages for an average customer, including major events: 0.14
- Number of outages for an average customer, excluding major events: 0.14
Village of Rockville Center – (NY)
- Owner Type: Municipal
- Number of customers: 10,896
- IEEE standard followed: No
- Average customer hours without power, including highlights: 1.82
- Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: Is not mentioned
- Number of outages for an average customer, including major events: 0.75
- Number of outages for an average customer, excluding major events: Is not mentioned
City of Massena – (NY)
- Owner Type: Municipal
- Number of customers: 9,330
- IEEE standard followed: No
- Average customer hours without power, including major events: 0.51
- Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 0.51
- Number of outages for an average customer, including major events: 1.38
- Number of outages for an average customer, excluding major events: 1.38
Steuben Rural Elec Coop, Inc
- Owner Type: Cooperative
- Number of customers: 6.306
- IEEE standard followed: Yes
- Average customer hours without power, including highlights: 14.72
- Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 8.88
- Number of outages for an average customer, including major events: 3.15
- Number of outages for an average customer, excluding major events: 2.72
Delaware County Elec Coop Inc
- Owner Type: Cooperative
- Number of customers: 5.404
- IEEE standard followed: Yes
- Average customer hours without power, including highlights: 18.57
- Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 13.55
- Number of outages for an average customer, including major events: Is not mentioned
- Number of outages for an average customer, excluding major events: Is not mentioned
Village of Greene – (NY)
- Owner Type: Municipal
- Number of customers: 1,250
- IEEE standard followed: Yes
- Average customer hours without power, including highlights: 0.32
- Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: Is not mentioned
- Number of outages for an average customer, including major events: 2.02
- Number of outages for an average customer, excluding major events: Is not mentioned
