Top 5 states with power outages 

1. California

California is no stranger to disaster. It’s a coastal state famous for its fault lines, but earthquakes aren’t the end of it: extreme weather events wreak havoc year-round, from summer heat waves and wildfires to winter rains and frequent floods. When conditions are dry and dangerous—and they frequently are—utilities will deliberately cut power to reduce the risk of a fire sparking. All that adds up to a mighty impact affecting 6,417,715 Californians in 2023 alone—that’s one in every seven residents. With record heat waves and wildfires on the rise, it doesn’t look like The Golden State will lose its gold-medal spot at the top anytime soon.

ODD OUTAGE FACT
On Christmas Eve 2023, a wild turkey cut power for more than 4,000 Sacramento homes and businesses. Fortunately, the outage didn’t last long—the line was repaired within the afternoon.

2. Texas

Everything’s bigger in Texas—including the number of power outages. In 2023, that number was big enough to impact at least 5,106,976 Texans. It’s not just due to the scorching heat waves and occasional hurricanes: the power grid down in The Lone Star State is independent from the wider national network. The outage caused by Winter Storm Uri in February 2021 turned the heat off for millions of Texans. And that was just one recent case where the weather overpowered the grid.

ODD OUTAGE FACT
Wild West wildlife is no joke. Every year, snakes, birds and all kinds of rodents run roughshod over the power grid. According to one Austin energy provider, animals cause around 10% of outages in the service area every year.

3. Tennessee

Tennessee is a newcomer to this short list, but recent weather trends have helped it take third place by storm. When a cold snap swept the state in winter 2022, millions maxed out the grid trying to heat their homes. Tennessee’s older infrastructure couldn’t handle the strain, plunging wide swathes of the state into freezing darkness. It was the latest, longest stretch of rolling blackouts in a series of record-breaking years. The grid has come a long way since then, but ongoing weather threats mean Tennessee is at high risk for outages. In 2023, they impacted 3,836,858.

ODD OUTAGE FACT
In spring 2024, Franklin County, Tennessee saw an “unprecedented” series of snake-related incidents. At least four reptiles slithered into the same substation and caused multiple outages, all in the span of a week.

4. Michigan

From Great Lakes to sprawling forests, Michigan is known for its wild beauty. Unfortunately, natural wonder tends to go hand in hand with natural disaster. Severe storms regularly threaten the power lines with fallen trees and branches, and in 2023 alone, outages affected at least 2,790,756 Michiganders. These blackouts aren’t just frequent—they’re some of the longest-lasting in the country due to the state’s aging infrastructure.

ODD OUTAGE FACT
In 2017, a dashboard video caught the cause of a widespread outage on camera: a goose falling from the sky after hitting a 7,200-volt power line. 4,500 customers went without power for five hours, but the bird paid the highest price of all.

5. Ohio

Ohio is another unassuming Midwestern winner. This landlocked state might not be battling hurricanes every year, but it sees its fair share of extreme weather events. And when those moments come, utility companies struggle to work around obstacles, including outdated systems and storm debris, to bring power back to the millions affected. In 2023, that number came to 2,196,680.

ODD OUTAGE FACT
Even after twenty years, the Northeast Blackout of 2003 is still the most notorious outage in Ohio’s history. A single bug in the energy management system made a small incident at an Eastlake power plant spiral into the second-biggest blackout in history. It affected 55 million people—not just in Ohio, but across northeast America.