Hurricanes in 2024 Led to the Most Hours without Power in the United States in 10 Years - CleanTechnica

In 2024, U.S. electricity customers experienced an average of 11 hours of power outages, nearly double the annual average of the previous decade. This significant increase was largely driven by major weather events, particularly Hurricanes Beryl, Helene, and Milton, which accounted for 80% of the total hours without electricity. Interruptions caused by such major events averaged nearly nine hours in 2024, compared to about four hours annually from 2014 to 2023. Non-major event outages remained relatively stable at around two hours per year. The industry uses two key metrics to characterize outages: SAIDI (total duration of interruptions per customer per year) and SAIFI (number of interruptions per customer per year). Certain states were disproportionately affected by these outages due to severe weather. For example, South Carolina experienced the longest average outages at nearly 53 hours, largely due to Hurricane Helene’s impact on power infrastructure. Texas, Florida, and several other southeastern states also faced millions of customers