Power outage history
Rio Grande County Colorado
3.4hours
without power for the average customer in a typical year, 2018–2025
16th most of 39 in Colorado 48% 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 Rio Grande's customers who were without power at that day's worst moment.
Year by year
Hours in the dark, per customer
2024 was the worst well-recorded year, at 10 hours for the average customer. Hatched years have a thin record and are left out of the averages.
Rio Grande, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 24, 2024 | Winter storm | 5,402 | 72% | 14 h | 6.5 h | 53k |
| Mar 12, 2019 | Winter storm | 5,654 | 75% | 19 h | 5.5 h | 19k |
| May 10, 2024 | Winter storm | 4,661 | 62% | 7.5 h | 2.0 h | 15k |
| Apr 20, 2022 | No storm report | 2,696 | 36% | 6.8 h | 6.8 h | 10k |
| May 14, 2022 | No storm report | 2,692 | 36% | 10 h | 1.8 h | 6.7k |
| Sep 13, 2017 | No storm report | 2,655 | 35% | 3.5 h | 30 min | 6.2k |
| Jun 9, 2020 | No storm report | 2,693 | 36% | 2.0 h | 2.0 h | 5.4k |
| Sep 16, 2022 | No storm report | 2,752 | 36% | 1.5 h | 1.5 h | 4.1k |
| Oct 10, 2025 | No storm report | 393 | 5% | 14 h | 14 h | 3.6k |
| Feb 6, 2022 | No storm report | 756 | 10% | 5.8 h | 5.5 h | 3.4k |
| Sep 1, 2018 | No storm report | 4,210 | 56% | 1.8 h | 1.5 h | 3.4k |
| Jul 29, 2023 | No storm report | 2,705 | 36% | 5.2 h | 48 min | 3.0k |
| Apr 29, 2025 | No storm report | 1,162 | 15% | 2.8 h | 2.5 h | 2.7k |
| Apr 17, 2018 | Windstorm | 1,000 | 13% | 2.2 h | 2.2 h | 2.2k |
| Sep 29, 2017 | No storm report | 985 | 13% | 2.8 h | 2.0 h | 2.2k |
| Jun 30, 2016 | No storm report | 1,506 | 20% | 1.8 h | 48 min | 2.1k |
| Jun 7, 2020 | No storm report | 535 | 7% | 3.8 h | 3.0 h | 2.0k |
| Sep 9, 2020 | Winter storm | 161 | 2% | 15 h | – | 1.8k |
| Jul 16, 2018 | No storm report | 405 | 5% | 4.2 h | 3.0 h | 1.7k |
| Apr 17, 2018 | Windstorm | 415 | 5% | 4.2 h | 1.8 h | 1.6k |
| Aug 1, 2016 | No storm report | 266 | 4% | 6.2 h | – | 1.5k |
| Sep 10, 2020 | No storm report | 465 | 6% | 4.5 h | 12 min | 1.5k |
| Apr 2, 2024 | No storm report | 4,264 | 56% | 30 min | 2.5 h | 1.4k |
| Aug 13, 2025 | No storm report | 114 | 2% | 12 h | – | 1.4k |
| Mar 19, 2025 | No storm report | 562 | 7% | 2.5 h | 2.2 h | 1.3k |
| Apr 30, 2019 | No storm report | 404 | 5% | 3.2 h | 12 min | 1.3k |
| Apr 23, 2019 | No storm report | 409 | 5% | 3.5 h | 2.2 h | 1.3k |
| Aug 21, 2018 | No storm report | 1,276 | 17% | 1.0 h | 1.5 h | 1.3k |
| Mar 11, 2021 | No storm report | 1,017 | 13% | 1.2 h | 1.2 h | 1.3k |
| Sep 30, 2025 | No storm report | 3,344 | 44% | 30 min | 12 min | 1.2k |
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 Rio Grande from twelve hours before it began to its peak. Matching shows coincidence, not proof of cause.
- Winter storm 51%
- No storm on record 46%
- Windstorm 2.9%
Who keeps the lights on
Utilities serving Rio Grande
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 |
| City of Center | CO | – | – | – | – | 10.0k |
| San Luis Valley R E C, Inc | Cooperative | 150 | 105 | 1.49 | 19.4 | 8.9k |
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
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 7,555 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 →