Power outage history
Clarke County Virginia
6.3hours
without power for the average customer in a typical year, 2018–2025
95th most of 123 in Virginia close to 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 Clarke's customers who were without power at that day's worst moment.
Year by year
Hours in the dark, per customer
2018 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.
Clarke, 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 2, 2018 | Windstorm | 1,456 | 19% | 3.6 d | 2.7 d | 42k |
| Nov 15, 2018 | Winter storm | 2,748 | 36% | 38 h | 18 h | 20k |
| Jun 16, 2016 | Thunderstorms | 1,291 | 17% | 43 h | 26 h | 13k |
| Nov 20, 2016 | No storm report | 2,051 | 27% | 9.5 h | 6.2 h | 11k |
| Feb 12, 2019 | Winter storm | 296 | 4% | 46 h | – | 10k |
| Jun 21, 2021 | Thunderstorms | 1,816 | 24% | 10 h | 8.2 h | 10k |
| Apr 30, 2021 | No storm report | 1,522 | 20% | 27 h | 6.5 h | 8.3k |
| Feb 24, 2019 | Windstorm | 941 | 12% | 26 h | 8.8 h | 8.2k |
| Jun 22, 2022 | Thunderstorms | 889 | 12% | 46 h | 26 h | 7.4k |
| Nov 28, 2015 | No storm report | 5,108 | 67% | 2.5 h | 2.2 h | 6.7k |
| Aug 30, 2021 | No storm report | 1,578 | 21% | 3.8 h | 6.5 h | 5.9k |
| Feb 16, 2025 | No storm report | 1,073 | 14% | 13 h | 8.0 h | 5.5k |
| Mar 1, 2017 | Thunderstorms | 538 | 7% | 20 h | 20 h | 5.1k |
| Aug 9, 2024 | Hurricane Debby | 832 | 11% | 11 h | 5.8 h | 5.0k |
| Jul 29, 2017 | Flooding | 1,558 | 21% | 7.2 h | 4.2 h | 5.0k |
| Mar 21, 2018 | Winter storm | 189 | 2% | 27 h | – | 4.6k |
| Aug 10, 2021 | No storm report | 501 | 7% | 27 h | 29 h | 4.6k |
| Oct 29, 2017 | No storm report | 1,498 | 20% | 17 h | 1.8 h | 4.6k |
| May 27, 2022 | Thunderstorms | 1,684 | 22% | 2.8 h | 2.5 h | 4.2k |
| Aug 18, 2023 | No storm report | 2,031 | 27% | 2.0 h | 12 h | 4.1k |
| Aug 12, 2017 | No storm report | 2,494 | 33% | 2.0 h | 11 h | 3.9k |
| May 15, 2022 | No storm report | 393 | 5% | 12 h | 2.5 h | 3.9k |
| Dec 22, 2022 | Winter storm | 1,701 | 22% | 2.2 h | 13 h | 3.8k |
| Jun 8, 2015 | No storm report | 1,731 | 23% | 3.8 h | 3.5 h | 3.8k |
| Dec 15, 2022 | No storm report | 238 | 3% | 22 h | – | 3.7k |
| May 19, 2018 | No storm report | 983 | 13% | 4.2 h | 5.2 h | 3.6k |
| Feb 7, 2016 | No storm report | 2,728 | 36% | 1.2 h | – | 3.2k |
| Mar 28, 2021 | Thunderstorms | 217 | 3% | 20 h | – | 3.2k |
| Sep 1, 2021 | Hurricane Ida | 583 | 8% | 8.5 h | 7.2 h | 3.1k |
| Jul 11, 2017 | Thunderstorms | 518 | 7% | 12 h | 5.2 h | 3.0k |
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 Clarke from twelve hours before it began to its peak. Matching shows coincidence, not proof of cause.
- No storm on record 53%
- Windstorm 16%
- Winter storm 14%
- Thunderstorms 13%
- Tropical storm 3.3%
- Heat 0.6%
Who keeps the lights on
Utilities serving Clarke
As each utility reports to the Energy Information Administration for its whole Virginia territory, not this county alone. Outage minutes include major storm days.
| Utility | Type | Outage min / yr | Excl. major storms | Outages / yr | Residential ¢/kWh | Customers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia Electric & Power Co | Investor Owned | 307 | 144 | 1.78 | 15.2 | 2.4M |
| Rappahannock Electric Coop | Cooperative | 428 | 220 | 2.50 | 15.5 | 173k |
| Northern Virginia Elec Coop | Cooperative | 94 | 43 | 0.98 | 12.6 | 169k |
| Shenandoah Valley Elec Coop | Cooperative | 391 | 258 | 2.78 | 14.5 | 87k |
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
- Fauquier 14 h
- Clarke (this county) 6.3 h
- Warren 5.8 h
- Jefferson, WV 4.5 h
- Frederick 3.1 h
- Loudoun 2.6 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 7,589 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 →