Power Out Map
– 0 customers out in North Carolina

Power outage history

North Carolina

8.3hours

without power for the average customer in a typical year, 2018–2025. 8th of 51.

Largest outage on record Hurricane Helene 908,895 customers out · 16% of the state
Electricity customers 5,610,532 Across 100 counties
Worst well-recorded year 2024 21 hours without power, average customer

County by county

Where North Carolina goes dark

Hours without power for the average customer in a typical year. Hover a county; click to open it.

Fewer hours64+ h / yr

Most hours without power

  1. 1Yancey78 h
  2. 2Polk62 h
  3. 3Mitchell59 h
  4. 4McDowell41 h
  5. 5Henderson32 h
  6. 6Hyde29 h
  7. 7Madison28 h
  8. 8Rutherford27 h
  9. 9Transylvania26 h
  10. 10Watauga25 h

Most reliable

  1. 1Pasquotank0.8 h
  2. 2Chowan1.7 h
  3. 3Pitt1.8 h
  4. 4Wilson1.9 h
  5. 5Edgecombe2.2 h

Year by year

Hours in the dark, statewide

0 5 10 15 20 25 ’15 ’16 ’17 18 ’18 4.1 ’19 6.5 ’20 3.3 ’21 6.8 ’22 4.0 ’23 21 ’24 3.1 ’25 US 6.6

The record

North Carolina's largest outages

Statewide events with at least 2% of customers, or 25,000, out at once, by peak.

BeganStormPeak outShare
Sep 27, 2024 Hurricane Helene 908,895 16.2%
Sep 15, 2018 Hurricane Florence 694,506 12.4%
Oct 8, 2016 Hurricane Matthew 681,783 12.2%
Oct 11, 2018 Hurricane Michael 587,824 10.5%
Sep 13, 2018 Hurricane Florence 571,903 10.2%
Dec 24, 2022 Winter storm 484,464 8.6%
Oct 29, 2020 Hurricane Zeta 463,156 8.3%
Sep 30, 2022 Hurricane Ian 384,673 6.9%
Aug 3, 2020 Hurricane Isaias 366,237 6.5%
Apr 13, 2020 Thunderstorms 286,366 5.1%
Aug 7, 2023 Thunderstorms 274,799 4.9%
Jun 17, 2022 Thunderstorms 248,930 4.4%

Every county

All 100 counties

CountyHours / yrMajor outages since 2018Customers
Yancey 78 16 7,907
Polk 62 103 5,215
Mitchell 59 60 8,839
McDowell 41 53 12,442
Henderson 32 14 69,102
Hyde 29 128 2,341
Madison 28 27 5,801
Rutherford 27 7 39,767
Transylvania 26 25 27,263
Watauga 25 17 18,248
Anson 25 147 6,334
Ashe 21 10 17,506
Buncombe 20 7 181,010
Pamlico 19 62 11,158
Haywood 17 22 31,677
Bladen 17 41 11,706
Carteret 17 29 39,432
Scotland 16 39 10,518
Richmond 16 60 12,592
Jackson 16 22 30,036
Columbus 16 17 22,736
Sampson 16 21 19,420
Jones 15 28 7,205
Onslow 15 16 77,669
Pender 15 18 30,714

Who keeps the lights on

Utilities in North Carolina

Reliability and residential price as reported to the EIA for the latest year. Outage minutes include major storm days.

UtilityTypeOutage min / yrExcl. major storms¢/kWhCustomers
Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC Investor Owned 216 172 13.4 2.0M
Duke Energy Progress Investor Owned 183 145 15.2 1.4M
EnergyUnited Elec Member Corp Cooperative 169 121 11.6 124k
Virginia Electric & Power Co Investor Owned 286 137 12.7 109k
Brunswick Electric Member Corp Cooperative 41 36 13.3 108k
Union Electric Membership Corp Cooperative 52 47 13.9 87k
Jones-Onslow Elec Member Corp Cooperative 57 53 13.4 81k
Fayetteville Public Works Commission Municipal 116 73 12.1 76k
Blue Ridge Elec Member Corp Cooperative 542 110 14.9 72k
Rutherford Elec Member Corp Cooperative 149 135 13.0 72k
Greenville Utilities Comm Municipal 43 28 12.7 67k
Lumbee River Elec Member Corp Cooperative 152 100 14.3 65k
Wake Electric Membership Corp Cooperative 211 128 14.3 56k
South River Elec Member Corp Cooperative 107 85 14.6 46k
Carteret-Craven El Member Corp Cooperative 118 72 12.5 39k