Power outage history
Richardson County Nebraska
3.7hours
without power for the average customer in a typical year, 2018–2025
11th most of 28 in Nebraska 44% 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 Richardson's customers who were without power at that day's worst moment.
Year by year
Hours in the dark, per customer
2021 was the worst well-recorded year, at 14 hours for the average customer. Hatched years have a thin record and are left out of the averages.
Richardson, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 15, 2021 | Windstorm | 1,696 | 33% | 2.9 d | 44 h | 60k |
| Mar 14, 2025 | Thunderstorms | 1,431 | 28% | 24 h | 3.0 h | 10k |
| Jan 22, 2019 | No storm report | 1,297 | 25% | 12 h | 11 h | 9.4k |
| Jul 15, 2021 | No storm report | 1,199 | 23% | 8.5 h | 3.5 h | 5.4k |
| Dec 5, 2019 | No storm report | 1,186 | 23% | 3.5 h | 3.2 h | 3.9k |
| Jun 17, 2018 | No storm report | 1,215 | 24% | 5.0 h | 3.0 h | 3.5k |
| Apr 16, 2024 | No storm report | 1,414 | 27% | 2.5 h | 3.0 h | 3.3k |
| Jan 9, 2024 | Winter storm | 413 | 8% | 14 h | 9.0 h | 3.0k |
| Jul 10, 2021 | Thunderstorms | 243 | 5% | 17 h | – | 2.9k |
| Mar 4, 2025 | Winter storm | 185 | 4% | 16 h | – | 2.5k |
| Apr 6, 2024 | No storm report | 499 | 10% | 8.5 h | 30 min | 2.4k |
| Sep 27, 2015 | No storm report | 999 | 19% | 2.8 h | 1.0 h | 2.3k |
| Jan 19, 2019 | No storm report | 451 | 9% | 4.0 h | 3.8 h | 1.7k |
| Aug 20, 2017 | No storm report | 515 | 10% | 3.2 h | 3.2 h | 1.7k |
| Sep 22, 2024 | No storm report | 308 | 6% | 9.5 h | 4.5 h | 1.6k |
| Oct 30, 2024 | Thunderstorms | 195 | 4% | 12 h | – | 1.5k |
| Mar 13, 2019 | Flooding | 453 | 9% | 2.8 h | 2.8 h | 1.2k |
| Sep 1, 2022 | No storm report | 951 | 18% | 1.5 h | 30 min | 1.2k |
| Mar 7, 2021 | No storm report | 403 | 8% | 3.0 h | 3.5 h | 1.2k |
| Oct 4, 2016 | No storm report | 1,153 | 22% | 1.2 h | 1.8 h | 1.1k |
| Sep 30, 2015 | No storm report | 492 | 10% | 2.2 h | 2.2 h | 1.1k |
| Jun 11, 2019 | No storm report | 92 | 2% | 12 h | – | 984 |
| Feb 7, 2022 | No storm report | 433 | 8% | 2.2 h | 2.2 h | 973 |
| Mar 6, 2017 | No storm report | 277 | 5% | 3.5 h | 3.5 h | 970 |
| Mar 13, 2024 | No storm report | 168 | 3% | 6.5 h | – | 934 |
| Apr 20, 2024 | No storm report | 460 | 9% | 2.0 h | 1.2 h | 918 |
| May 2, 2018 | Thunderstorms | 125 | 2% | 7.0 h | – | 872 |
| Feb 23, 2025 | No storm report | 266 | 5% | 3.5 h | 3.5 h | 832 |
| Mar 16, 2020 | No storm report | 229 | 4% | 3.5 h | – | 802 |
| Dec 25, 2016 | No storm report | 208 | 4% | 3.8 h | – | 778 |
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 Richardson from twelve hours before it began to its peak. Matching shows coincidence, not proof of cause.
- Windstorm 44%
- No storm on record 36%
- Thunderstorms 13%
- Winter storm 4.5%
- Flooding 1.2%
Who keeps the lights on
Utilities serving Richardson
As each utility reports to the Energy Information Administration for its whole Nebraska territory, not this county alone. Outage minutes include major storm days.
| Utility | Type | Outage min / yr | Excl. major storms | Outages / yr | Residential ¢/kWh | Customers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omaha Public Power District | Political Subdivision | 558 | 98 | 1.57 | 13.3 | 369k |
| Nebraska Public Power District | Political Subdivision | 195 | 77 | 0.90 | 10.9 | 74k |
| Auburn Board of Public Works | NE | – | – | – | 9.2 | 26k |
| City of Falls City | NE | – | – | – | 9.6 | 24k |
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
- Holt, MO 14 h
- Pawnee 5.6 h
- Doniphan, KS 4.0 h
- Richardson (this county) 3.7 h
- Brown, KS 3.6 h
- Nemaha 3.1 h
- Nemaha, KS 0.5 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 5,162 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 →