Power outage history
Spokane County Washington
3.6hours
without power for the average customer in a typical year, 2018–2025
21st most of 31 in Washington 46% 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 Spokane'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 11 hours for the average customer. Hatched years have a thin record and are left out of the averages.
Spokane, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 17, 2015 | Windstorm | 217,351 | 100% | 8.9 d | 6.0 d | 11M |
| Jan 13, 2021 | Windstorm | 48,590 | 22% | 4.5 d | 3.3 d | 1.6M |
| Oct 9, 2019 | Winter storm | 33,424 | 15% | 36 h | 23 h | 353k |
| Sep 7, 2020 | Wildfire | 15,095 | 7% | 41 h | 23 h | 263k |
| Dec 17, 2025 | Windstorm | 27,258 | 13% | 19 h | 15 h | 204k |
| Oct 23, 2020 | Winter storm | 17,096 | 8% | 21 h | 20 h | 146k |
| Jul 23, 2019 | Thunderstorms | 18,826 | 9% | 19 h | 16 h | 133k |
| Sep 25, 2024 | Thunderstorms | 25,644 | 12% | 10 h | 9.8 h | 127k |
| Apr 22, 2021 | No storm report | 21,679 | 10% | 18 h | 10 h | 82k |
| Aug 12, 2025 | No storm report | 3,574 | 2% | 23 h | – | 71k |
| Apr 18, 2021 | Wildfire | 9,643 | 4% | 15 h | 17 h | 71k |
| Apr 4, 2022 | Windstorm | 6,298 | 3% | 14 h | 10 h | 52k |
| Jun 28, 2021 | Heat | 8,571 | 4% | 7.2 h | 5.2 h | 37k |
| Aug 18, 2023 | Wildfire | 2,661 | 1% | 14 h | – | 36k |
| Nov 15, 2021 | Windstorm | 8,661 | 4% | 7.0 h | 9.0 h | 36k |
| Aug 7, 2016 | Thunderstorms | 12,395 | 6% | 3.8 h | 3.5 h | 28k |
| Aug 30, 2015 | Wildfire | 13,917 | 6% | 3.2 h | 4.2 h | 23k |
| Dec 28, 2015 | No storm report | 12,371 | 6% | 1.5 h | 12 min | 19k |
| Oct 4, 2021 | No storm report | 8,581 | 4% | 2.2 h | 1.5 h | 18k |
| Nov 4, 2022 | Windstorm | 4,699 | 2% | 5.2 h | – | 17k |
| Aug 17, 2021 | No storm report | 2,523 | 1% | 6.8 h | – | 17k |
| Sep 29, 2024 | Windstorm | 3,119 | 1% | 6.0 h | – | 16k |
| Sep 3, 2022 | No storm report | 4,830 | 2% | 4.8 h | – | 15k |
| Jun 15, 2021 | No storm report | 4,493 | 2% | 5.0 h | – | 15k |
| Jul 10, 2024 | No storm report | 3,673 | 2% | 4.0 h | – | 14k |
| Oct 13, 2020 | Windstorm | 4,630 | 2% | 3.2 h | – | 12k |
| Dec 10, 2023 | Winter storm | 3,158 | 1% | 4.8 h | – | 12k |
| Aug 21, 2024 | Wildfire | 9,889 | 5% | 1.5 h | 2.0 h | 12k |
| Sep 30, 2015 | Wildfire | 15,715 | 7% | 1.0 h | 1.2 h | 12k |
| Aug 25, 2018 | No storm report | 6,606 | 3% | 2.0 h | 48 min | 11k |
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 Spokane from twelve hours before it began to its peak. Matching shows coincidence, not proof of cause.
- Windstorm 54%
- Winter storm 14%
- Wildfire 13%
- No storm on record 11%
- Thunderstorms 7.3%
- Heat 1.3%
Who keeps the lights on
Utilities serving Spokane
As each utility reports to the Energy Information Administration for its whole Washington territory, not this county alone. Outage minutes include major storm days.
| Utility | Type | Outage min / yr | Excl. major storms | Outages / yr | Residential ¢/kWh | Customers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avista Corp | Investor Owned | 200 | 119 | 0.97 | 14.2 | 247k |
| City of Cheney | WA | 56 | 56 | 0.31 | 7.8 | 61k |
| Inland Power & Light Company | Cooperative | 536 | 283 | 2.55 | 9.6 | 42k |
| Vera Irrigation District #15 | Political Subdivision | – | – | – | 9.6 | 12k |
| Modern Electric Water Company | Cooperative | – | – | – | 7.7 | 9.5k |
| Kootenai Electric Cooperative | Cooperative | – | – | – | 12.1 | 93 |
| Bonneville 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
- Benewah, ID 26 h
- Bonner, ID 17 h
- Stevens 10 h
- Lincoln 9.9 h
- Pend Oreille 8.8 h
- Kootenai, ID 3.8 h
- Spokane (this county) 3.6 h
- Whitman 2.0 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 217,351 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 →