Power outages in California
In 2025, the average California customer had 5.8 hours (345.0 minutes) without power. That is above the US median of 4.3 hours (258.7 minutes) across 50 states compared.
Trend
Outage time has moved up and down since 2020, from 4.5 hours in 2020 to a low of 3.3 hours in 2022. The worst year was 2023 at 5.8 hours, and 2025 is almost as high.
Utilities in 2025
Alameda Municipal Power had the lowest 2025 SAIDI at 0.2 hours (9.0 minutes). Liberty Utilities had the highest at 10.2 hours (614.3 minutes).
| Utility | Customers | Hours / yr | Interruptions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty Utilities | 48,925 | 10.2 | 3.1 |
| City of Glendale - (CA) | 95,127 | 9.8 | 1.6 |
| Southern California Edison Co | 5,343,161 | 9.1 | 1.4 |
| PacifiCorp | 47,309 | 8.1 | 5.3 |
| Los Angeles Department of Water & Power | 1,571,400 | 6.8 | 0.8 |
| Bear Valley Electric Service | 24,913 | 5.6 | 5.6 |
| Pacific Gas & Electric Co. | 5,633,083 | 4.5 | 1.6 |
| City of Pasadena - (CA) | 66,846 | 3.6 | 0.8 |
| City of Burbank Water and Power - (CA) | 54,898 | 2.9 | 0.8 |
| San Diego Gas & Electric Co | 1,541,412 | 2.2 | 0.5 |
| Imperial Irrigation District | 166,111 | 1.9 | 0.7 |
| City of Riverside - (CA) | 110,480 | 1.5 | 0.5 |
| City of Redding - (CA) | 45,638 | 1.2 | 0.7 |
| City of Lodi - (CA) | 26,346 | 1.2 | 0.5 |
| City of Santa Clara - (CA) | 62,242 | 1.2 | 0.6 |
| City of Palo Alto - (CA) | 30,190 | 1.1 | 0.6 |
| City of Colton - (CA) | 19,828 | 1.1 | 0.4 |
| Turlock Irrigation District | 91,168 | 1.0 | 0.7 |
| Sacramento Municipal Util Dist | 677,917 | 0.8 | 0.9 |
| Modesto Irrigation District | 121,547 | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| City of Anaheim - (CA) | 117,000 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
| City of Roseville - (CA) | 72,390 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Alameda Municipal Power | 37,322 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
What this means for backup power
For everyday outages, enter 4.5 hours in the calculator, which is the average length of one interruption. To ride out a year like 2023, size for 5.8 hours, which is all of that year's outage hours.
FAQ
How many hours a year is the power out in California?
In 2025, the average customer had 5.8 hours (345.0 minutes) of outages in total. This is the SAIDI figure, which adds up all outage time in a year.
How long does one outage last?
One interruption lasts about 4.5 hours on average. Customers had about 1.3 interruptions per year in 2025 (1.272).
How much backup power should I plan for?
For a typical outage, plan for about 4.5 hours of runtime. If you want to cover a year like 2023, the worst in the data, plan for 5.8 hours. Use the calculator to turn these hours into battery or generator size.
Utility pages
Source: U.S. EIA Form 861 Reliability file. Data snapshot 2026-11-05.