Five years of federal data show a twentyfold gap between the best and worst states; free report and dataset published ahead of a forecast El Niño winter
ROSEVILLE, Calif., Oct. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Homes in the typical U.S. state spent 4.9 hours without power each year from 2020 through 2024, but the gap between states is twentyfold, according to a new analysis of federal data published today by security camera retailer Deluxe CCTV. Customers in Louisiana averaged 33.5 hours a year, the most of any state, against 1.7 hours in Arizona, the least.
The report ranks all 50 states and Washington, D.C. using reliability data that electric utilities file annually with the U.S. Energy Information Administration. It is free to read and download, with no registration required.
Maine ranked second at 22.1 hours a year and West Virginia third at 15.5. Washington, D.C. was lowest overall at 0.8 hours.
Storms drive most of the time customers spend in the dark. Across the 50 states and D.C., major events such as hurricanes and ice storms accounted for between 63% and 79% of all outage hours in each year studied. EIA reports that U.S. customers averaged 11 hours of interruptions in 2024, the most in a decade, with major events accounting for 80% of that time.
Single storms can reshape a state's year. South Carolina customers averaged 52.3 hours without power in 2024, the year of Hurricane Helene, compared with between 2.0 and 5.4 hours in each of the four preceding years.
The report arrives as forecasters warn of an unusually stormy winter. NOAA's Climate Prediction Center reported on September 28 that El Niño is strengthening, with a greater than 90% chance of a very strong event during the fall and winter of 2026–27.
The data suggests where that would be felt. Winter storms already account for some of the worst years in the record: Oklahoma customers averaged 48.7 hours without power in 2020, the year of the October ice storm, and a single December 2023 storm pushed Maine to 31.1 hours. A strong El Niño typically suppresses Atlantic hurricane activity while steering more storms along a southern track, so the states most affected in a given winter may not be the ones that top this ranking.
How often the power fails is a different picture from how long. Maine customers lost power most frequently, an average of 3.3 times a year, followed by Louisiana at 2.7. The typical state averaged 1.3 outages per customer per year. Illinois, Nevada, Nebraska and New York had the fewest among the states, at 0.9.
The findings point at a gap in home security equipment. Cameras that plug into a wall outlet and connect over home WiFi stop recording when the power fails, and the router they depend on usually goes down with it. The report includes guidance on which equipment keeps working during an outage and which does not.
"Most people think about the lights going out, not their security going dark. When the power goes out, the internet usually goes with it, and so do security cameras that rely on household power and WiFi. This data shows most outage time comes during major storms, so plan for the long outages, not just the average ones," said Dustin Dalton, owner of Deluxe CCTV.
Methodology. Figures are customer-weighted state averages of SAIDI and SAIFI values reported by utilities under EIA Form EIA-861, converted to hours, for 2020 through 2024, the five most recent years of final data. For 2023 and 2024 the calculations match EIA's own published state totals to within 0.1% for every state. Small utilities that file EIA's short form do not report reliability data; nine states where reporting utilities serve fewer than 80% of customers are marked in the report. Full methodology, sources and the complete dataset are published with the report.
The full report and dataset are available at deluxecctv.com/power-outages-by-state.
About Deluxe CCTV
Deluxe CCTV Inc. is a video surveillance equipment company located in Roseville, Calif. Having served more than 500,000 customers worldwide since 2000, Deluxe CCTV has the largest selection of covert surveillance equipment available in North America. Complementing Deluxe CCTV's line of high-quality products, the company offers industry-leading warranties and exceptional customer service that continues to set it apart from its competitors. For more information, visit deluxecctv.com.
Media Contact
Dustin Dalton, Deluxe CCTV, 1 8887110589, [email protected], https://deluxecctv.com/
SOURCE Deluxe CCTV
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