Higher prices mean more reliable power: false
False The claim: “Higher prices mean more reliable power” The 10 highest-price states have a median of 123 minutes without power a year (major events excluded); the 10 lowest-price states, 136. The state median is 123.
Price and outage minutes: r = +0.03
We take SAIDI, the average minutes a customer is without power in a year, from EIA-861 for 2024 with major event days excluded, weighted by home accounts across each state's utilities. Only 44 states have at least 3 reporting utilities and enough coverage.
Across those states the correlation with the 2025 home price is +0.03. Of the 10 highest-priced states, 5 have fewer outage minutes than the state median of 123; the fewest minutes sit in Illinois, South Dakota and Nevada, at 17.69, 13.38 and 13.15 cents.
Each dot is a state
44 states; r = +0.03, so price accounts for 0.1% of the state-to-state variation in outage minutes (r squared).
Highest and lowest prices side by side
The 10 highest-priced states average 25.9 cents and 135 outage minutes; the 10 lowest-priced average 12.7 cents and 132 minutes. Prices reflect fuel, networks and rate design as well as the cost of keeping the lights on, and our data cannot split them.
44 states ranked by home price
| California | 32.54 | 1 | 164 | 35 | 2 h 44 min |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | 30.48 | 2 | 77 | 10 | 1 h 17 min |
| Connecticut | 29.38 | 3 | 74 | 8 | 1 h 14 min |
| Maine | 27.78 | 4 | 273 | 43 | 4 h 33 min |
| New York | 26.39 | 5 | 143 | 27 | 2 h 23 min |
| Alaska | 26.09 | 6 | 194 | 38 | 3 h 14 min |
| New Hampshire | 24.56 | 7 | 84 | 11 | 1 h 24 min |
| New Jersey | 22.63 | 8 | 103 | 17 | 1 h 43 min |
| Michigan | 20.01 | 9 | 160 | 34 | 2 h 40 min |
| Maryland | 19.48 | 10 | 77 | 9 | 1 h 17 min |
| Pennsylvania | 19.30 | 11 | 130 | 25 | 2 h 10 min |
| Wisconsin | 18.16 | 12 | 98 | 16 | 1 h 38 min |
| Illinois | 17.69 | 13 | 57 | 1 | 57 min |
| Delaware | 17.13 | 14 | 67 | 5 | 1 h 07 min |
| Ohio | 16.96 | 15 | 133 | 26 | 2 h 13 min |
| Indiana | 16.23 | 16 | 124 | 23 | 2 h 04 min |
| Colorado | 15.85 | 17 | 119 | 21 | 1 h 59 min |
| Minnesota | 15.82 | 18 | 91 | 14 | 1 h 31 min |
| Texas | 15.47 | 19 | 153 | 32 | 2 h 33 min |
| Oregon | 15.37 | 20 | 127 | 24 | 2 h 07 min |
| Arizona | 15.32 | 21 | 70 | 7 | 1 h 10 min |
| Virginia | 15.28 | 22 | 245 | 42 | 4 h 05 min |
| Florida | 15.24 | 23 | 67 | 4 | 1 h 07 min |
| New Mexico | 15.08 | 24 | 172 | 37 | 2 h 52 min |
| South Carolina | 14.96 | 25 | 93 | 15 | 1 h 33 min |
| Georgia | 14.73 | 26 | 210 | 40 | 3 h 30 min |
| Kansas | 14.56 | 27 | 114 | 20 | 1 h 54 min |
| Mississippi | 14.03 | 28 | 280 | 44 | 4 h 40 min |
| North Carolina | 14.02 | 29 | 144 | 28 | 2 h 24 min |
| Iowa | 13.72 | 30 | 84 | 12 | 1 h 24 min |
| Missouri | 13.49 | 31 | 107 | 19 | 1 h 47 min |
| South Dakota | 13.38 | 32 | 57 | 2 | 57 min |
| Kentucky | 13.24 | 33 | 146 | 29 | 2 h 26 min |
| Tennessee | 13.18 | 34 | 168 | 36 | 2 h 48 min |
| Nevada | 13.15 | 35 | 64 | 3 | 1 h 04 min |
| Oklahoma | 13.12 | 36 | 122 | 22 | 2 h 02 min |
| Washington | 13.11 | 37 | 158 | 33 | 2 h 38 min |
| Utah | 13.07 | 38 | 104 | 18 | 1 h 44 min |
| Montana | 12.98 | 39 | 150 | 30 | 2 h 30 min |
| Arkansas | 12.84 | 40 | 196 | 39 | 3 h 16 min |
| Louisiana | 12.57 | 41 | 219 | 41 | 3 h 39 min |
| Nebraska | 12.34 | 42 | 68 | 6 | 1 h 08 min |
| Idaho | 11.82 | 43 | 153 | 31 | 2 h 33 min |
| North Dakota | 11.81 | 44 | 85 | 13 | 1 h 25 min |
| Alabama | 16.10 | No data | No data | No data | No data |
| District of Columbia | 21.94 | No data | No data | No data | No data |
| Hawaii | 40.59 | No data | No data | No data | No data |
| Rhode Island | 29.46 | No data | No data | No data | No data |
| Vermont | 22.92 | No data | No data | No data | No data |
| West Virginia | 15.41 | No data | No data | No data | No data |
| Wyoming | 13.38 | No data | No data | No data | No data |
44 states have enough reporting utilities; the other 7 show no data. Highest price California 32.54 ¢ with 164 minutes; fewest minutes Illinois at 57.
CSVFive highest and five lowest prices
Highest prices, with outage minutes: California 32.5 cents and 164 minutes; Massachusetts 30.5 cents and 77 minutes; Connecticut 29.4 cents and 74 minutes; Maine 27.8 cents and 273 minutes; New York 26.4 cents and 143 minutes.
Lowest prices: North Dakota 11.8 cents and 85 minutes; Idaho 11.8 cents and 153 minutes; Nebraska 12.3 cents and 68 minutes; Louisiana 12.6 cents and 219 minutes; Arkansas 12.8 cents and 196 minutes. The five highest span 74 to 273 minutes, the five lowest 68 to 219 (the ranges overlap).
Find your state
Pick a state to see its price and outage minutes.
What this does not show
SAIDI here excludes major events, so a hurricane year does not enter; myth 11 covers those. A state average hides gaps between utilities, and prices include costs that have nothing to do with the grid, such as fuel.
A weak link is not proof of no link: we compare 2025 prices with 2024 outages and do not test a cause.
Map: outage minutes by state
- 57 min to 77 min
- 77 min to 107 min
- 107 min to 143 min
- 143 min to 168 min
- 168 min to 280 min
Darker = more minutes. Grey = not enough reporting utilities.
Keep reading
Sources and dates
| Source | Data period | Retrieved | Used here for |
|---|---|---|---|
| EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2024 final | data year 2024 | 1 Oct 2026 | SAIDI without major events, by utility, 2024 |
| EIA electricity retail sales, annual and monthly (API v2) | annual 2010 to 2025, monthly to Jul 2026 | 1 Oct 2026 | Home price 2025 |
Questions
Do higher electricity prices mean more reliable power?
Not in our data: r = +0.03 across 44 states between home price and outage minutes.
Which state has the fewest outage minutes?
Illinois with 57 minutes a year, at 17.69 cents; then South Dakota at 57 and Nevada at 64.
Which state has the most?
Mississippi at 280 minutes a year, which is 4 h 40 min.
What do the highest-priced states show?
Their median is 123 minutes against 136 for the lowest-priced states and 123 for all 44.
What is SAIDI?
System Average Interruption Duration Index: minutes the average customer is without power in a year. We use the version that excludes major event days.
Why are some states missing?
7 states lack 3 reporting utilities or enough covered accounts: Alabama, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.
How much of the difference does price explain?
r squared is 0.1%, the share of the state-to-state spread in outage minutes that a straight line on price accounts for.
What years do the numbers cover?
Outage minutes are 2024 (EIA-861 reliability sheet); prices are the 2025 average for home customers.