Deluxe CCTV Releases State-by-State Power Outage Analysis Ahead of El Niño Winter
News related to:Deluxe CCTV · 2 min read
ROSEVILLE, Calif., Oct. 6, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- Deluxe CCTV, a security camera retailer based in Roseville, California, has released a comprehensive analysis of power outages across the United States. The study, which draws on five years of federal data, reveals a significant disparity in the frequency and duration of power outages between states. The findings are particularly relevant as forecasters predict an unusually stormy winter due to the strengthening El Niño phenomenon.
According to the analysis, the typical U.S. state experienced an average of 4.9 hours of power outages per year from 2020 to 2024. However, the gap between the best and worst states is stark, with Louisiana experiencing 33.5 hours of outages annually, compared to just 1.7 hours in Arizona. Maine ranked second with 22.1 hours, followed by West Virginia at 15.5 hours. Washington, D.C., had the lowest average at 0.8 hours.
The report, which is free to access and download from the Deluxe CCTV website, ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on reliability data submitted by electric utilities to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The data suggests that storms are the primary cause of power outages, accounting for between 63% and 79% of all outage hours during the study period. In 2024, U.S. customers faced an average of 11 hours of interruptions, the highest in a decade, with major events contributing to 80% of the total outage time.
Single storms can significantly impact a state's annual outage statistics. For instance, South Carolina experienced an average of 52.3 hours of outages in 2024, the year of Hurricane Helene, compared to just 2.0 to 5.4 hours in each of the preceding four years. Oklahoma's customers faced 48.7 hours of outages in 2020, the year of a significant October ice storm, and a single December 2023 storm pushed Maine's total to 31.1 hours.
The findings highlight the need for robust home security equipment that can function during power outages. Deluxe CCTV advises that cameras that plug into a wall outlet and connect over home WiFi cease recording when the power fails, and the router usually goes down with it. The report includes guidance on which equipment continues to work during outages and which does not.
Dustin Dalton, the owner of Deluxe CCTV, emphasized the importance of preparedness.
The methodology of the report is based on customer-weighted state averages of SAIDI and SAIFI values reported by utilities under EIA Form EIA-861, converted to hours for the years 2020 through 2024. The calculations for 2023 and 2024 match EIA's own published state totals to within 0.1% for every state. Small utilities that file EIA's short form do not report reliability data, and nine states where reporting utilities serve fewer than 80% of customers are marked in the report.
The full report and dataset are available at deluxecctv.com/power-outages-by-state.