US Power Outages Hit Decade High Last Year: EIA

Americans endured more power outages last year than any in the past decade, averaging 11 hours, with hurricanes as a leading cause.

A new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reveals a stark decline in grid reliability, with Americans experiencing more power interruptions last year than in any other year of the past decade. The annual average outage duration surged to 11 hours per customer nearly double the average of the previous ten years with major hurricanes and extreme weather events cited as primary drivers. This data quantifies a growing crisis in electricity infrastructure, exposing the system's vulnerability to climate change and raising urgent questions about the nation's energy security and economic resilience.

This dramatic increase in downtime starkly contrasts with the technological advancements and investments aimed at modernizing the grid. The report demonstrates that incremental upgrades are being overwhelmed by the frequency and intensity of climate-related disruptions. This matters because it moves the discussion of grid resilience from theoretical risk to quantified, widespread impact, directly affecting business operations, public health, and daily life. The EIA is delivering a critical, non-partisan metric that underscores the escalating cost of inaction on hardening the nation's power delivery systems.

For utility executives, policymakers, and corporate risk managers, this report is a clarion call for accelerated investment. It necessitates a fundamental shift from a reactive restoration model to a proactive resilience investment strategy that includes grid hardening, microgrids, and advanced distribution automation. The forward-looking insight is clear: reliability is becoming the new benchmark for utility performance. This data will fuel regulatory pressure for higher infrastructure spending and could reshape rate cases, making the business case for resilience investments as critical as those for generation and transmission.