Florida Ranks Number 8 In The Country For The Most Power Outages

They may seem like a bad thing, but power outages may be the only thing that could keep your utility bill in check. Just kidding. (Am I?) Power outages is something that's common to us in Florida. Because hurricanes. Although, it's really been getting a lot better.

When Hurricane Irma struck Southwest Florida 6 years ago, I was without power for 9 days. When Hurricane Ian struck last year, my lights were off for 3 days. Even though Ian was much more destructive, I didn't even make it through my first batch of gas for my generator. So, utilities in Florida are doing a much better job at keeping us on. But power outages still happen.

With this in mind, Compare the Market AU analyzed a variety of historical data and modern search data looking at electrical disturbances to reveal the states where power outages are more common.

According to the data, the states with the most power outages are as follows:

It was about 3 years ago that Texas suffered that grid collapse that left all those people without power during a winter storm. They're still working on solutions to keep that from happening again, although data shows that issues with their grid  isn't a one time thing.

California is moving towards a lot of renewable energy and storage on lithium-ion batteries. That can help, but there's clearly some growing pains. California had more reported power outages in 2022 than any other state in the country. In fact, things there seem to be getting worse. Axios reports "California's average electricity customer experienced 5.4 hours of power outages in 2021 — up from 4.5 in 2020, and 1.7 in 2013."

Let's take a look at Florida. 20 years ago in Estero it was common for my power to go out, and stay out, for extended lengths. Now there's rarely a blip. I'd say that without last year's Hurricane Ian, Florida would probably be outside the top 10 on this list. But that's come at quite the cost. Florida residents are getting killed with high electric utility bills.

Finally, some simple things you can do in Florida to save power. Reduce the time you run your pool pump in the winter. With less daylight, you really don't need the full 8 hours. Lower your water heater temperature. That could knock $10-$15 off a month. Also, replace your a/c filter more often. It's hard for it to keep your house cool when the filter is full of dog hair.

And let's not forget why there was no power just over a year ago.

Fort Myers Beach is absolutely destroyed. Our entire Southwest Florida area is reeling from Hurricane Ian. Most of us are without power and internet. We have limited cell and text messaging available. Many of you reading this are from outside of our area, so if can help:

How To Help Those Impacted By Hurricane Ian

We are currently live and taking phone calls and texts 98.1 FM, 106.3 FM, and 96.1 FM. You can also steam via the B103.9, 96K-Rock, ESPNSWFL, and Sunny1063 apps. To hear the broadcast in Spanish, tune to 99.3 fm or via the Playa99.3 app.

Hurricane Ian made landfall near Cayo Costa, an island off the coast of Fort Myers, just after 3 p.m. on Wednesday. With Ian, came 150 mph winds, the fifth-strongest hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. According to ABC News, "Ian then made a second landfall 90 minutes later, still as a Category 4 storm with 145 mph winds, just south of Punta Gorda, near Pirate Harbor."

While the efforts to restore Fort Myers Beach will be a years long recovery, our whole area is suffering greatly. The causeway to Sanibel collapsed and the docks sustained heavy damage, making the island only accessible by helicopter. There's some areas where we don't even know yet the extent of the damage.

We will rebuild. But this is going to take a long time.