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

Author Joe Winner
Police officers direct the traffic during a power outage after Hurricane Ian passed through the central Florida on September 29, 2022 in Bartow, Florida. The hurricane brought high winds, storm surge and rain to the area causing severe damage. (Photo by Gerardo Mora/Getty Images)

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:

Rank State Search Volume in 2022 Total Electrical Disturbances Past 3 Years % Change
1 Texas 86700 191 8.33%
2 California 98300 167 23.21%
3 Washington 15960 83 24.00%
4 Louisiana 9520 58 -33.33%
5 Kansas 630 49 16.67%
6 Michigan 68100 46 14.29%
7 Maine 63180 45 -36.36%
8 Oregon 31950 41 0.00%
8 Florida 65090 41 53.85%
10 New York 41600 39 -12.50%

Texas leads the way with power outages.

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.

Pictures Of Fort Myers Beach In The Aftermath Of Hurricane Ian

Joe Winner spends his days combing through memes and off beat stories to bring you the side of Florida not always seen.

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Author Joe Winner
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