Data Study Reveals 10 States With The Most & Least Reliable Power Grids

Discover what states have the most and least reliable power grids based on the latest complete electrical reliability data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

It is worth briefly noting that the numbers below include big events like storms or hurricanes since this gives a better view of life in each state.

Additionally, the main state ranking is based on SAIDI which comes down to the average amount of minutes of power outages per customer per year.

Power Grid Reliability Overview Map

Before going into the dry data, it is interesting to see a map of how the different states perform in terms of average minutes of power outages per user in 2021.

Power Grid Reliability Statistics By State

After taking a look at the map, you can dig deep into the power grid reliability statistics by state and for the whole USA.

Besides the average for users in the US at the top, the different states are ranked from best to worst power grids in terms of SAIDI.

10 States With The Most Reliable Power Grids

Below you can find the 10 states with the most reliable power grids (smallest average minutes of power outages per customer per year) together with related information.

The ranks next to each statistic are in the positive.

In simpler words, since Delaware has the smallest average minutes of power outage per customer per year, this state gets ranked #1.

1. Delaware

Delaware can still do better in terms of total power outages,

However, their quick emergency responses still lead to the smallest number of power outage minutes out of all the states.

2. Florida

Florida scores well in all three power grid reliability categories.

These are impressive statistics considering this state has to deal with so many hurricanes.

3. North Dakota

North Dakota does not have the highest number of inhabitants but these people do get to enjoy a relatively reliable power grid.

4. Nevada

Not many people may think about a solid power grid when they hear the word Nevada.

However, this is the US state with the smallest number of power outages per customer in 2021.

5. South Dakota

People generally do not go to South Dakota to enjoy the electricity but there are not too many shortages of this throughout the year.

6. Arizona

The Arizona power grid is interesting in the sense that outages are relatively common but that the average minutes per customer per year is still relatively low.

In turn, you can conclude that the 2021 power grid emergency response was reasonably good in Arizona (or the issues were only small).

7. Utah

Similar to its neighbors Nevada and Arizona, Utah is another state that does relatively well across the board in terms of power grid reliability.

8. Minnesota

You likely prefer the nature landscapes of Minnesota but their power grid also belongs to some of the most reliable ones in the US.

9. South Carolina

South Carolina can do better in terms of the total number of power outages a year but due to their relatively short duration, this state still performs well overall.

10. Illinois

Illinois is the opposite of South Carolina.

This state does not have that many power outages but they lasted relatively long in 2021.

10 States With The Least Reliable Power Grids

Next, there are the states with the least reliable aka worst power grids.

The other benefits of these states could still convince you to move there.

However, emergency generators or other backup power sources can be helpful in these locations.

1. Louisiana

As you can expect from the state with the least reliable power grid in 2021, the numbers from Louisiana are the bad type of impressive compared to previous options.

Whereas people in Delaware only got outages that lasted an average of 67 minutes, Louisiana had outage durations with an average of 21.9 times more, 24 and a half hours.

2. Oregon

The Oregon power grid was a good amount more reliable than the Louisiana one but there is still a lot of room for improvement.

An average of 958 minutes without the wattage to power home appliances is far from ideal.

Even if it “only” happens an average of 1.55 times per customer per year.

3. Texas

The Texas power grid did reasonably well with the average duration of their power outages.

However, with 2.64 outages per customer per year, Texas had the second least stable power grid in 2021.

4. Mississippi

The Mississippi power grid did somewhat the opposite of Texas in the sense that it did better in terms of power outage frequency and worse in terms of average duration.

5. West Virginia

There are plenty of outdoor activities to enjoy in West Virginia.

This can be welcome if you don’t just want to sit out the relatively common power outages at home.

6. Michigan

Michigan did not perform that well in terms of power grid reliability in 2021.

Some of the reasons for these outages include fallen trees and extreme winter conditions.

7. Kentucky

Back to warmer temperatures there is Kentucky with a reasonable average number of power outages but an average duration that puts this state low on the list of reliability.

8. Washington

On the other side of the country, the power grid in Washington is not that much better than in Kentucky.

At the same time, “only” an average duration of 312 minutes (5.2 hours) per outage is a nice amount better than the average of 463 minutes (7.7 hours) in Kentucky

9. Massachusetts

Massachusetts is known for its rich history and universities but not for its reliable power grid.

A big reason for this was the relatively long average power outage duration in 2021.

In terms of power grid stability, Massachusetts did a lot better.

10. Nebraska

Nebraska is not the most highly populated state and their average power outage duration statistics likely don’t help with this.

On the flip side, with “only” 1.1 power outages per year in 2021, Nebraska did reasonably well in this area.

Limitations Of The Data

The data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is relatively clean but it is worth mentioning some remaining limitations anyway.

These results come from adding up the numbers from different companies within the different US states.

That means there will definitely be areas that are not as bad in terms of power grid reliability as their state rank may suggest.

Additionally, there are different methods for measuring the results (although this applies to all states).

Lastly, I took the data that included big events like for example hurricanes.

In a way, this means you get a slightly less perfect view of how the power companies are doing in day-to-day life.

At the same time, this does not stop Florida from getting the number two spot in power grid reliability.

These big events are part of life in each state too.

FAQ

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration