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Power outage map: outages near you, right now
The map below is our power outage map near me for the entire USA. Each red dot is an active outage cluster reported by users in the past few hours; green dots are outages that have just been resolved. Pan and zoom to your neighborhood or click any marker for the cluster’s start time, the number of reports backing it, and the affected radius. The map updates every few minutes — refresh the page to pull the latest reports.
If your neighbors lost power at the same time you did, you’re looking at a grid outage — one the utility (not your supplier) has to fix. The US grid is split across roughly 3,000 distribution utilities: investor-owned utilities (IOUs) like PG&E, Con Edison, Duke Energy and Oncor; municipal utilities like LADWP, CPS Energy and JEA; and rural electric cooperatives serving most of the countryside.
Outages have many causes — severe weather, vehicle accidents, equipment failure, wildfire de-energization (PSPS), planned maintenance. You don’t need to do anything technical: just report the outage and wait for crews. If you see a downed live wire, sparks, smoke or burning smell, call 911 first, then your utility.
Outage data could not be loaded.
Active power outages right now
The most recent active outages reported across the USA.
No active power outages reported right now. Report an outage if your lights just went out.
Data is based on user reports. Only active outages are shown. The confidence score is derived from the number of reports and their geographic proximity. For verified information, check your utility’s official outage map.
How to report a power outage in the USA
Reporting a power outage takes 30 seconds and serves two purposes. First, your utility uses it to locate and isolate the affected circuit — the faster they pinpoint where the fault is, the faster crews get rolling. Second, our community map plots your report so neighbors can see they’re not alone and so vulnerable customers (medical equipment, oxygen concentrators, elderly residents) get attention sooner.
Step 1 · First minute
Check your circuit breaker
If only your home is dark, flip the main breaker off then on. Resets fix most single-home outages. Still no power? It’s a grid event — move to step 2.
Step 2 · Submit a report
Call your utility’s outage line
Use the verified outage phone for the utility that owns the poles & wires at your address. Have your account number or service address ready. Most utilities also accept text-to-report (e.g. text “OUT” to the utility’s short code).
Step 3 · Help your block
Add yourself to the live map
Use the form below to log your outage anonymously. Each pin helps the next person on your street know what’s happening, and aggregates into a regional view crews and dispatchers monitor.
Important: the form on this page does not dispatch a crew. To get the lights back on, you still need to call your utility — the company that owns the poles and wires in your neighborhood. Find your utility on the who-to-call decoder below or go straight to your state page.
Your outage report was submitted. Thank you for helping your neighbors!
Reports are submitted anonymously and help other residents see where outages are happening. For official outage reporting, also contact your utility directly — only they can dispatch a crew.
How to check the status of a power outage
Once you’ve reported an outage, three sources keep you updated: the live map above for community reports, your utility’s official outage map for crew-verified ETRs, and SMS/app alerts for push notifications. The directory below is showing Northeast utilities by default — switch regions or search to find yours among 184 verified maps.
No utility matches your filters
Try a different region or clear the search.
Not seeing your utility? Many smaller municipal utilities and rural cooperatives also publish live outage maps. Check your latest bill or your utility’s home page.
Who to call for a power outage in the USA
The answer depends on whether your state is regulated or deregulated and on the utility that owns the wires at your address. In all 50 states the rule is the same: call the utility that owns the poles & wires, not the supplier that bills you.
In deregulated states like Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Michigan (partial), Delaware, DC, Virginia (partial) and California (a few CCAs), the company on your bill is your retail electric provider (REP). They cannot fix outages. Your TDU — Oncor, CenterPoint, PECO, ComEd, Con Edison, Eversource, NYSEG, etc. — does.
In regulated states (most of the South, Mountain West and parts of the Midwest), one vertically integrated utility owns generation, transmission and distribution. They’re both your biller and the people who restore power. Examples: Duke Energy, Southern Company subsidiaries (Alabama Power, Georgia Power), Entergy, Dominion Energy, FPL, PNM, Idaho Power.
Investor-owned utilities
The largest category: PG&E, Con Edison, Duke Energy, Southern Company, FPL, Eversource, Xcel, NextEra. They serve roughly 70 % of US customers. Each publishes its own outage map and outage phone number — find yours on your state page below.
Municipal utilities
City-owned utilities serve about 15 % of US households — LADWP (Los Angeles), Austin Energy, CPS Energy (San Antonio), JEA (Jacksonville), SMUD (Sacramento), Seattle City Light, OUC (Orlando), Memphis Light Gas & Water. The city itself runs the outage line.
Rural electric cooperatives
About 900 cooperatives serve 13 % of customers across 56 % of US land area — mostly rural communities. Each coop runs its own outage hotline. If your address is outside a major metro, your power likely comes from a coop.
What to do during a power outage
Whether you’re in a deregulated state with a separate REP and TDU, or a regulated state with a single utility, the actions you take in the first 30 minutes are the same. The goal is to stay safe, find out whether the outage is yours alone or grid-wide, and make sure crews have your address.
If only your house is dark while neighbors have lights, the problem is likely on your side of the meter — check breakers first. If neighbors are also out, it’s a grid event: report it, call your utility, then sit tight.
Check whether neighbors also lost power
Look outside: are streetlights on? Are neighbors’ windows lit? If yes, the outage is yours alone — check your breaker panel and main disconnect. If no, it’s a grid outage. Move to step 2.
Report the outage on this page and call your utility
Use the form above to log it on the live map, then dial your utility’s outage line. Many utilities also accept reports via SMS or their app. Have your account number or service address ready — it helps them isolate the affected circuit faster.
Protect appliances and food
Turn off and unplug sensitive electronics (computers, TVs) to protect them from voltage surges when power comes back. Leave one light switched on so you know when service returns. Keep the refrigerator and freezer closed: a full freezer keeps food safe roughly 48 hours, a fridge about 4 hours.
Stay safe with generators and heat sources
Never run a portable generator indoors, in a garage, or near windows — carbon monoxide is invisible and lethal. Place it outside, at least 20 feet from any door or vent. Don’t use a gas oven or stovetop for heat. If temperatures drop below freezing, drip cold water from faucets to prevent pipes from bursting.
Why is there a power outage in my area right now?
If you’re reading this in the dark, the live map above will tell you where outages are clustered — this section explains why. The US Department of Energy and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) track every major outage and the pattern is consistent year after year: weather is the dominant cause — thunderstorms, hurricanes, ice storms, wildfires, extreme heat. Equipment failure, vehicles hitting poles, and animal contacts round out the top causes. Cyberattacks remain rare but rising.
To know which one is hitting your block right now: check the National Weather Service at weather.gov for active warnings, your utility’s outage map for the official cause code, and the live map above for the size and spread of the cluster. Most US power outages are weather-related and resolve within 1–3 hours; large storms can stretch to several days.
Severe weather
Thunderstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes, ice storms and high wind events cause more than 80 % of large outages each year, according to DOE data.
Public Safety Power Shutoffs
In California (and a growing number of fire-prone Western states), utilities de-energize lines preemptively during red flag warnings to prevent wildfires — planned, unwelcome, and getting more frequent.
Vehicles & animals
A car hitting a utility pole or a squirrel bridging a transformer is a leading non-weather cause. Most fixes take 30 to 90 minutes once a crew is dispatched.
Equipment failure
Aging transformers, faulty switchgear and underground cable splice failures, especially on hot summer afternoons when load is highest. Less dramatic but very common.
Planned outages
Maintenance work, line upgrades, tree clearance. Utilities are required to notify customers in advance — check your email and texts.
Heat & load shedding
During grid emergencies, regional ISOs (ERCOT, MISO, CAISO, PJM, ISO-NE, NYISO, SPP) can order rolling blackouts. The February 2021 Texas event and the August 2020 California rotating outages are recent examples.
Power outage compensation by state
The US has no federal outage compensation scheme. Each state’s Public Utility Commission (PUC) or Public Service Commission (PSC) sets the rules. Roughly three patterns exist: automatic credit states (CA, CT, IL, MI) require utilities to issue a bill credit when outages exceed a threshold; spoilage claim states (NY, NJ, MA, MD, DC, WA, OR) let you file for food and medication reimbursement; case-by-case states (TX, FL, PA, OH, GA, NC, AZ, CO) handle claims individually with no statutory minimum.
Below is a state-by-state summary of the major rules. Important: even when there’s no automatic credit, you can almost always file a claim with the utility for spoiled food and damaged appliances — keep receipts, photos, and a timeline of the outage. File within 30–60 days.
| State | Type | What you can claim |
|---|---|---|
| New York | Spoilage claim | Con Edison and other IOUs must reimburse customers for food and prescription spoilage when an outage exceeds 12 hours. Typical caps: $540 for food (single household), $300 for spoiled medication. |
| California | Automatic credit | IOUs (PG&E, SCE, SDG&E) must credit residential customers $25–$100 for Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) de-energizations exceeding 48 hours. Storm-related outages are case-by-case. |
| Connecticut | Automatic credit | Eversource and United Illuminating must issue $25 bill credits for outages over 96 hours, plus food spoilage reimbursement up to $250. |
| New Jersey | Spoilage claim | BPU rules: food spoilage up to $250 and prescription replacement up to $300 for outages exceeding 72 hours. |
| Massachusetts | Spoilage claim | DPU requires Eversource, National Grid and Unitil to accept spoilage claims and file emergency response plans. Reimbursement is per claim, not automatic. |
| Maryland | Spoilage claim | BGE, Pepco and Delmarva accept spoilage claims after qualifying outages. Document everything — the PSC reviews disputes. |
| Washington Dc | Spoilage claim | Pepco accepts food spoilage claims up to $250 after extended outages. Submit via the Pepco customer portal within 30 days. |
| Illinois | Automatic credit | ComEd Reliability Performance Standards: credits triggered when a customer experiences 4+ interruptions or 8+ hours in a calendar year. Filed automatically. |
| Florida | Case-by-case | No statutory compensation. FPL and Duke Energy Florida accept claims for utility-caused damage on a case-by-case basis via the Florida PSC. |
| Texas | Case-by-case | No automatic compensation. Claims go directly to the TDU (Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas, TNMP). PUC oversight available if denied. |
| Pennsylvania | Case-by-case | PA PUC handles disputed claims. PECO, PPL, Duquesne and FirstEnergy accept spoilage claims case-by-case — no automatic credit. |
| Ohio | Case-by-case | PUCO complaint process. AEP Ohio, FirstEnergy, Duke and AES Ohio accept claims; reimbursement is not guaranteed. |
| Michigan | Automatic credit | MPSC rule: $25 credit for outages over 16 hours after a catastrophic event, $35 if you experience 8+ outages in 12 months. DTE and Consumers must comply. |
| Georgia | Case-by-case | Georgia Power and EMCs accept claims via the PSC complaint process. No automatic credit framework. |
| North Carolina | Case-by-case | NCUC handles disputed claims. Duke Energy accepts food spoilage claims when the outage is utility-caused. |
| Arizona | Case-by-case | APS, SRP and TEP handle spoilage claims case-by-case. ACC oversees disputes. |
| Colorado | Case-by-case | Xcel Energy and Black Hills handle spoilage claims. PUC complaint process available. |
| Washington | Spoilage claim | UTC: Puget Sound Energy and others accept food spoilage claims with documentation. |
| Oregon | Spoilage claim | PUC oversight. PGE and Pacific Power accept claims for spoiled food and damaged appliances. |
Does renters insurance cover power outages?
Short answer: sometimes — and the trigger matters more than the damage. A standard HO-4 renters insurance policy in the US generally covers food spoilage and damaged personal property only when the power outage is caused by a covered peril, and only when the outage originates on your side of the meter or is caused by direct physical damage to the building.
Here’s the practical breakdown:
Usually covered
Outage caused by damage to your building
If a fire, falling tree, lightning strike or vehicle impact damages your apartment’s wiring or the building’s service drop and causes the outage, food spoilage and damaged electronics are typically reimbursed up to your policy’s personal property limit (minus deductible). Most policies also include $500 in food spoilage coverage as a standalone benefit, regardless of cause.
Sometimes covered
Wide-area utility outage from a storm
Some carriers (Lemonade, State Farm, Allstate, USAA, Liberty Mutual) include food spoilage from off-premises power loss as standard or as a low-cost endorsement. Others only cover on-premises causes. Read your declarations page — the keyword is “off-premises power interruption.”
Sometimes covered
Hotel stay during a multi-day outage
Renters insurance includes Additional Living Expenses (ALE) — reimbursement for a hotel and meals when your unit becomes uninhabitable due to a covered peril. A heat wave outage that makes the apartment unlivable, or an ice storm that knocks out heat in winter, may qualify if the underlying cause is covered. Document the temperature.
Usually not covered
Lost wages or business income
Personal renters insurance does not reimburse remote workers for lost income during an outage. For that you need a business policy or business interruption rider. Same for spoiled inventory if you run a business from home.
Document everything
Photograph spoiled food before discarding it. Save thermostat readings and outdoor temperatures. Keep the original utility outage notification email or text.
Check your “Additional Coverages”
The food spoilage benefit (typically $500–$1,000 with no deductible) is often listed under “refrigerated property” or “additional coverages” rather than the main personal-property section.
File within the deadline
Most policies require claims within 60 days of the event. State PUCs accept consumer complaints if your insurer or utility denies a clearly valid claim.
Choose your state
Power outage by state: 50 state pages
Each state page lists the utilities serving that territory, their outage phone numbers, and the major cities with their own pages.
No state matches .