Power outage history
Sussex County Delaware
1.4hours
without power for the average customer in a typical year, 2018–2025
2nd most of 3 in Delaware 79% 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 Sussex's customers who were without power at that day's worst moment.
Year by year
Hours in the dark, per customer
2020 was the worst well-recorded year, at 2.7 hours for the average customer. Hatched years have a thin record and are left out of the averages.
Sussex, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 4, 2020 | Hurricane Isaias | 34,852 | 16% | 17 h | 9.8 h | 266k |
| Jan 23, 2016 | Winter storm | 15,234 | 7% | 7.5 h | 3.0 h | 64k |
| Jan 28, 2015 | No storm report | 7,502 | 3% | 8.2 h | 2.5 h | 42k |
| Oct 2, 2015 | Windstorm | 7,586 | 3% | 8.2 h | 5.0 h | 41k |
| Jan 3, 2022 | Winter storm | 5,887 | 3% | 11 h | 8.2 h | 36k |
| Nov 13, 2020 | No storm report | 18,587 | 8% | 3.8 h | 30 min | 36k |
| Apr 15, 2019 | Tornadoes | 7,381 | 3% | 11 h | 8.8 h | 33k |
| Jan 9, 2024 | Windstorm | 9,082 | 4% | 5.5 h | 5.5 h | 31k |
| Jan 28, 2025 | No storm report | 10,066 | 5% | 3.0 h | 11 h | 30k |
| Jan 29, 2022 | Winter storm | 6,002 | 3% | 6.2 h | 6.8 h | 26k |
| Aug 30, 2017 | Thunderstorms | 16,283 | 7% | 2.5 h | 30 min | 25k |
| Jul 25, 2025 | No storm report | 11,053 | 5% | 3.8 h | 4.0 h | 25k |
| Nov 26, 2018 | No storm report | 6,211 | 3% | 4.2 h | 4.2 h | 21k |
| Apr 13, 2020 | Windstorm | 12,454 | 6% | 2.5 h | 3.2 h | 20k |
| May 16, 2025 | Thunderstorms | 5,814 | 3% | 5.0 h | 4.5 h | 19k |
| May 25, 2016 | No storm report | 19,182 | 9% | 1.8 h | 12 min | 17k |
| Apr 3, 2016 | Thunderstorms | 4,069 | 2% | 4.2 h | – | 15k |
| Mar 15, 2015 | No storm report | 6,358 | 3% | 3.5 h | 2.2 h | 14k |
| Jul 16, 2019 | No storm report | 3,053 | 1% | 4.5 h | – | 14k |
| May 16, 2018 | No storm report | 2,437 | 1% | 5.8 h | – | 13k |
| Jul 30, 2022 | No storm report | 2,380 | 1% | 5.0 h | – | 12k |
| Feb 15, 2015 | Winter storm | 4,188 | 2% | 4.2 h | – | 11k |
| Jun 19, 2017 | Tornadoes | 3,655 | 2% | 4.2 h | – | 11k |
| Jul 23, 2019 | Thunderstorms | 5,122 | 2% | 2.5 h | 2.0 h | 10k |
| Sep 5, 2016 | No storm report | 4,096 | 2% | 2.5 h | – | 10k |
| Oct 9, 2015 | No storm report | 3,217 | 1% | 3.5 h | – | 10k |
| May 22, 2017 | No storm report | 2,608 | 1% | 4.0 h | – | 10k |
| Jun 20, 2018 | No storm report | 2,321 | 1% | 4.2 h | – | 9.8k |
| Dec 24, 2020 | Windstorm | 6,987 | 3% | 1.8 h | 2.0 h | 9.4k |
| Sep 19, 2021 | No storm report | 12,296 | 6% | 1.0 h | 48 min | 9.3k |
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 Sussex from twelve hours before it began to its peak. Matching shows coincidence, not proof of cause.
- No storm on record 44%
- Tropical storm 30%
- Winter storm 8.4%
- Windstorm 7.5%
- Thunderstorms 6.3%
- Tornadoes 3.5%
Who keeps the lights on
Utilities serving Sussex
As each utility reports to the Energy Information Administration for its whole Delaware territory, not this county alone. Outage minutes include major storm days.
| Utility | Type | Outage min / yr | Excl. major storms | Outages / yr | Residential ¢/kWh | Customers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delmarva Power | Investor Owned | 104 | 76 | 0.78 | 18.2 | 305k |
| Delaware Electric Cooperative | Cooperative | 112 | 75 | 1.48 | 13.9 | 109k |
| City of Seaford | DE | 52 | 52 | 0.47 | 15.7 | 35k |
| City of Lewes | DE | – | – | – | – | 34k |
| City of Milford | Municipal | 24 | 24 | 0.25 | 15.9 | 7.5k |
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
- Worcester, MD 3.0 h
- Dorchester, MD 2.2 h
- Caroline, MD 1.9 h
- Wicomico, MD 1.4 h
- Sussex (this county) 1.4 h
- Kent 0.9 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 218,986 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 →