Power outage history
La Plata County Colorado
3.5hours
without power for the average customer in a typical year, 2018–2025
15th most of 39 in Colorado 46% below the national median
Every day since 2015
Eleven years, one night at a time
Each cell is a day. The brighter it is, the larger the share of La Plata's customers who were without power at that day's worst moment.
Year by year
Hours in the dark, per customer
2019 was the worst well-recorded year, at 5.7 hours for the average customer. Hatched years have a thin record and are left out of the averages.
La Plata, hours without power per customer
The record
The biggest outages since 2015
Ranked by customer-hours lost: customers out multiplied by how long they stayed out. Times are local.
| Began | Storm | Peak out | Share | Lasted | 90% restored | Customer-hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 14, 2019 | Winter storm | 17,764 | 48% | 22 h | 12 h | 149k |
| Aug 20, 2022 | No storm report | 1,116 | 3% | 2.2 d | – | 58k |
| Dec 9, 2021 | Winter storm | 8,834 | 24% | 29 h | 12 h | 58k |
| Dec 24, 2021 | Winter storm | 2,130 | 6% | 38 h | 32 h | 42k |
| Aug 5, 2017 | No storm report | 13,471 | 36% | 3.5 h | 2.0 h | 32k |
| May 25, 2017 | No storm report | 11,879 | 32% | 6.5 h | 3.8 h | 27k |
| Dec 15, 2021 | Winter storm | 2,014 | 5% | 33 h | 31 h | 25k |
| Dec 28, 2022 | Winter storm | 4,789 | 13% | 14 h | 11 h | 24k |
| Jun 3, 2022 | Wildfire | 5,275 | 14% | 9.0 h | 9.0 h | 23k |
| Aug 10, 2024 | Thunderstorms | 1,391 | 4% | 16 h | – | 22k |
| Aug 2, 2023 | Wildfire | 9,426 | 25% | 2.2 h | 11 h | 21k |
| Mar 19, 2020 | Winter storm | 6,688 | 18% | 14 h | 3.8 h | 19k |
| Jul 29, 2021 | No storm report | 2,896 | 8% | 7.2 h | 4.2 h | 18k |
| May 19, 2020 | Windstorm | 5,612 | 15% | 5.8 h | 3.5 h | 14k |
| Feb 14, 2025 | Winter storm | 4,475 | 12% | 6.2 h | 2.8 h | 13k |
| Jul 23, 2020 | Wildfire | 2,785 | 8% | 4.5 h | 12 h | 13k |
| Sep 18, 2023 | Wildfire | 2,840 | 8% | 8.5 h | 14 h | 11k |
| Jan 17, 2017 | No storm report | 6,186 | 17% | 2.0 h | 30 min | 11k |
| Mar 1, 2024 | No storm report | 9,448 | 26% | 1.2 h | 1.0 h | 10k |
| Dec 1, 2019 | No storm report | 1,096 | 3% | 11 h | – | 9.9k |
| Jun 1, 2024 | No storm report | 2,851 | 8% | 5.0 h | 5.0 h | 9.1k |
| Feb 2, 2025 | No storm report | 1,139 | 3% | 8.0 h | – | 9.1k |
| Jan 1, 2023 | Winter storm | 2,631 | 7% | 6.8 h | 3.5 h | 8.7k |
| Dec 16, 2022 | No storm report | 1,193 | 3% | 7.2 h | – | 8.6k |
| Jun 19, 2018 | Wildfire | 7,022 | 19% | 1.2 h | 1.0 h | 8.5k |
| Jun 27, 2025 | No storm report | 2,908 | 8% | 3.5 h | 3.5 h | 7.9k |
| May 30, 2019 | No storm report | 1,008 | 3% | 7.5 h | – | 7.5k |
| Apr 30, 2018 | No storm report | 6,935 | 19% | 2.2 h | 1.8 h | 6.8k |
| Nov 7, 2024 | Winter storm | 2,098 | 6% | 3.2 h | 3.2 h | 6.8k |
| Dec 22, 2016 | Winter storm | 3,006 | 8% | 2.5 h | 1.5 h | 6.8k |
After the peak
How fast the lights come back
Each line is one major outage, from its peak. The amber line is the typical path.
When it happens
The outage clock
Customer-hours out by month (rings, January innermost) and local hour, 2018–2025.
What was happening
Weather behind the outages
Each outage is matched to NOAA storm reports for La Plata from twelve hours before it began to its peak. Matching shows coincidence, not proof of cause.
- Winter storm 46%
- No storm on record 33%
- Wildfire 14%
- Thunderstorms 3.5%
- Windstorm 3.0%
Who keeps the lights on
Utilities serving La Plata
As each utility reports to the Energy Information Administration for its whole Colorado territory, not this county alone. Outage minutes include major storm days.
| Utility | Type | Outage min / yr | Excl. major storms | Outages / yr | Residential ¢/kWh | Customers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Service Co of Colorado | Investor Owned | 360 | 149 | 1.58 | 15.9 | 1.4M |
| La Plata Electric Assn, Inc | Cooperative | 218 | 67 | 1.70 | 18.3 | 40k |
| WAPA-- Western Area Power Administration | Federal | – | – | – | – | – |
EIA Form 861, latest year each utility reported. Outage minutes are SAIDI, the yearly minutes the average customer goes without power; outages a year are SAIFI.
Next door
Neighbouring counties
- Archuleta 8.0 h
- La Plata (this county) 3.5 h
- San Juan, NM 3.0 h
About these numbers
Notes
Outages come from the EAGLE-I record of utility outage maps collected every 15 minutes by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Hours without power are customer-hours divided by the county's 36,986 electricity customers. Averages use well-covered years from 2018. Outages shorter than 15 minutes, and utilities that publish no outage map, are not in the record, so these figures understate the total. How every number is made →