Big storms cause most outage minutes: partly true
Partly The claim: “Big storms cause most outage minutes” The national share points to large events. The EIA-861 sheet reports SAIDI with and without major event days and does not name a cause, so storms are our reading of what a major event day usually is, not a field in the data.
77% of minutes on major event days
For each utility with at least 1,000 accounts and both figures, EIA-861 2024 gives SAIDI including and excluding major event days. The difference is the minutes lost on those days. Weighting by accounts across 47 states, customers lost 599 minutes in the year and 464 of them, 77%, fell on major event days.
33 of 47 states are above 50%. Median state share: 60%.
Largest and smallest shares
States differ widely
The share ranges from 4% in Wyoming to 96% in South Carolina. A state with few major event days can still have long ordinary outages: Wyoming loses 91 minutes without them. The largest ordinary total is West Virginia at 470 minutes.
Ordinary against major event minutes
47 states; r = +0.24 between the two components. Share of minutes from major events runs 4% (Wyoming) to 96% (South Carolina).
All 51 states: share from 4% to 96%
| South Carolina | 3,711 | 136 | 3,576 | 96.3 | 22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 1,497 | 67 | 1,430 | 95.5 | 18 |
| North Carolina | 1,518 | 144 | 1,374 | 90.5 | 35 |
| Nebraska | 704 | 70 | 635 | 90.1 | 9 |
| New Hampshire | 734 | 84 | 649 | 88.5 | 3 |
| Maine | 1,745 | 276 | 1,469 | 84.2 | 3 |
| Virginia | 1,269 | 215 | 1,054 | 83.1 | 13 |
| Georgia | 1,214 | 209 | 1,004 | 82.8 | 30 |
| Ohio | 513 | 135 | 378 | 73.7 | 30 |
| Washington | 550 | 145 | 405 | 73.6 | 21 |
| Kentucky | 539 | 146 | 393 | 72.9 | 30 |
| New York | 478 | 143 | 335 | 70.1 | 4 |
| South Dakota | 196 | 60 | 136 | 69.4 | 13 |
| Texas | 487 | 157 | 330 | 67.7 | 46 |
| Wisconsin | 296 | 97 | 199 | 67.2 | 25 |
| Louisiana | 641 | 218 | 423 | 66.0 | 6 |
| Oklahoma | 337 | 115 | 222 | 65.9 | 20 |
| Arkansas | 571 | 199 | 372 | 65.1 | 15 |
| Michigan | 459 | 162 | 297 | 64.7 | 20 |
| Oregon | 522 | 187 | 334 | 64.1 | 11 |
| Kansas | 277 | 102 | 175 | 63.3 | 13 |
| Pennsylvania | 353 | 131 | 222 | 62.8 | 5 |
| Illinois | 180 | 71 | 109 | 60.5 | 13 |
| Indiana | 311 | 123 | 187 | 60.3 | 28 |
| Nevada | 160 | 64 | 96 | 60.0 | 5 |
| Minnesota | 223 | 91 | 132 | 59.1 | 36 |
| West Virginia | 1,135 | 470 | 665 | 58.6 | 4 |
| Iowa | 199 | 84 | 115 | 57.8 | 13 |
| Colorado | 259 | 120 | 140 | 53.8 | 21 |
| Montana | 297 | 139 | 159 | 53.3 | 6 |
| Connecticut | 153 | 74 | 79 | 51.8 | 5 |
| Mississippi | 569 | 279 | 290 | 51.0 | 12 |
| Missouri | 219 | 108 | 112 | 50.9 | 27 |
| Tennessee | 347 | 187 | 161 | 46.2 | 41 |
| California | 304 | 166 | 137 | 45.3 | 20 |
| Delaware | 118 | 67 | 51 | 43.4 | 3 |
| New Jersey | 180 | 102 | 78 | 43.3 | 3 |
| Alaska | 324 | 193 | 131 | 40.5 | 5 |
| Alabama | 196 | 118 | 78 | 39.8 | 12 |
| New Mexico | 239 | 145 | 95 | 39.5 | 8 |
| Idaho | 234 | 142 | 92 | 39.2 | 8 |
| Maryland | 116 | 74 | 42 | 36.1 | 7 |
| Massachusetts | 104 | 77 | 27 | 26.3 | 12 |
| Arizona | 83 | 70 | 14 | 16.4 | 12 |
| Utah | 114 | 104 | 10 | 8.6 | 8 |
| North Dakota | 66 | 62 | 4 | 5.8 | 10 |
| Wyoming | 96 | 91 | 4 | 4.2 | 7 |
| District of Columbia | No data | No data | No data | No data | No data |
| Hawaii | No data | No data | No data | No data | No data |
| Rhode Island | No data | No data | No data | No data | No data |
| Vermont | No data | No data | No data | No data | No data |
National weighted share 77.3%. 33 of 47 states are above 50%; highest South Carolina 96%, lowest Wyoming 4%. 4 states show no data.
CSVFind your state
Pick a state to see its major event share.
What the file does not say
Major event day is a utility-reported classification. The sheet carries no cause, so a heat wave, a wildfire shutoff or a cyberattack day would count the same as a storm. Some states have few utilities with both figures, so one large utility can move a state. Both measures cover one year, 2024, and a quiet or stormy year moves the shares.
Verdict: the national number leans toward the claim, the file cannot name storms, and 14 of 47 states are at or below half.
Map: major event share by state
- 4% to 40%
- 40% to 58%
- 58% to 65%
- 65% to 74%
- 74% to 96%
Darker = a bigger share from major events. Grey = fewer than 3 utilities with both figures.
Keep reading
Sources and dates
| Source | Data period | Retrieved | Used here for |
|---|---|---|---|
| EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2024 final | data year 2024, Reliability sheet | 1 Oct 2026 | SAIDI with and without major event days, by utility |
Questions
Do big storms cause most outage minutes?
Major event days carry 77% of outage minutes nationally in 2024, but the data does not name storms as the cause, and 14 of 47 states are at or below half.
Which state has the highest share from major events?
South Carolina at 96%: 3,576 of 3,711 minutes. Next are Florida (96%) and North Carolina (91%).
Which state has the lowest?
Wyoming at 4%, then North Dakota at 6%.
What is a major event day?
A day on which a utility's outages are so large that the reliability standard it follows sets it apart from ordinary operation. EIA-861 reports SAIDI with and without those days.
How many minutes does a customer lose in a year?
599 minutes on average over the 47 states in our weighted figure, 136 without major event days.
Where do most ordinary outage minutes occur?
West Virginia has the most without major events, 470 minutes; South Dakota the fewest, 60.
Why are some states missing?
District of Columbia, Hawaii, Rhode Island and Vermont have fewer than 3 utilities with both figures and 1,000 or more accounts.
Is this one year?
Yes, data year 2024, from the EIA-861 Reliability file. A year with fewer events would lower the shares.