Power Out Map
– 0% of Buffalo out 0 customers out in South Dakota

Power outage history

Buffalo County South Dakota

The outage record here is too thin for a reliable yearly average. Raw events are listed below.

Worst outage on record Sep 16, 2020 100% of customers out · 90% back in 3.0 hours
Hours without power, average customer per year –h / yr State average 4.8 h · national median 6.6 h
Major outages a year – Peaks over 10% of customers or 50,000 customers
Typical time to restore 90% 2hours Median across major outages, from the peak
Longest single outage 5hours Mar 15, 2021, over 1% of customers out
Outage hours on storm days 12% Share falling on days with a NOAA storm report here
Worst year –
Electricity customers 592 ORNL customer model · 0 well-covered years

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 Buffalo's customers who were without power at that day's worst moment.

20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025
0%100% of customers out

Year by year

Hours in the dark, per customer

Buffalo, hours without power per customer

BuffaloUS median countySouth Dakota average
0 2 4 6 8 ’19 ’20 ’21 ’22 ’23 ’24 ’25 US 6.6 SD 4.8

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
Sep 16, 2020 No storm report 592 100% 3.0 h 3.0 h 1.8k
Jul 22, 2021 No storm report 482 81% 2.0 h 2.0 h 964
Apr 19, 2021 No storm report 592 100% 1.2 h 1.2 h 740
Sep 15, 2020 No storm report 165 28% 2.0 h 2.0 h 330
Aug 2, 2019 No storm report 165 28% 2.0 h 1.5 h 328
Mar 15, 2021 Winter storm 59 10% 4.5 h 4.5 h 266
Jul 20, 2021 No storm report 482 81% 30 min – 227
Aug 2, 2022 No storm report 58 10% 2.8 h 2.8 h 160
Dec 27, 2020 No storm report 55 9% 2.8 h 2.8 h 151
Dec 25, 2023 Winter storm 56 9% 2.0 h 2.0 h 112
Jul 26, 2025 Heat 59 10% 1.8 h 1.8 h 103
May 16, 2025 Windstorm 58 10% 2.0 h 1.2 h 101

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.

0% 25% 50% 75% 100% peak+24h+48h+72h+96h half back by +4h 90% by +4h

When it happens

The outage clock

Customer-hours out by month (rings, January innermost) and local hour, 2018–2025.

00061218 Jan inside

What was happening

Weather behind the outages

Each outage is matched to NOAA storm reports for Buffalo from twelve hours before it began to its peak. Matching shows coincidence, not proof of cause.

  • No storm on record 88%
  • Winter storm 7.4%
  • Windstorm 2.5%
  • Heat 1.6%

Who keeps the lights on

Utilities serving Buffalo

As each utility reports to the Energy Information Administration for its whole South Dakota territory, not this county alone. Outage minutes include major storm days.

Utility Type Outage min / yr Excl. major storms Outages / yr Residential ¢/kWh Customers
Central Electric Coop, Inc Cooperative – – – 14.7 6.5k
Dakota Energy Coop Inc Cooperative – – – 16.3 3.2k
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

Across South Dakota

Where it is darkest

Hours / yr64+

All South Dakota 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 592 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 →