SURGING POWER OUTAGES and Climate Change

Climate Central's analysis of U.S. power outage data from 2000-2021 reveals a significant increase in large-scale disruptions, with 83% of major outages attributed to weather-related events. The report highlights that the frequency of major outages rose by 64% between 2011-2021 compared to 2000-2010, driven by severe weather, winter storms, hurricanes, extreme heat, and wildfires. It emphasizes the vulnerability of aging infrastructure and the compounding effects of climate change, which simultaneously increases electricity demand for cooling while reducing the capacity of power plants due to water shortages. The report identifies the Southeast as the region with the highest number of outages and notes specific recent surges in Texas, California, and Michigan.

• Major power outages in the U.S. have become more frequent, with a 64% increase in the number of events during the 2011-2021 decade compared to the 2000-2010 period.
• Weather-related events are the primary driver of large-scale electrical disruptions, accounting for 83% of all reported major outages between 2000 and 2021.
• Of the 1,542 weather-related outages identified from 2000-2021, severe weather (such as high winds and thunderstorms) was the most common cause at 58%, followed by winter weather at 22% and hurricanes/tropical storms at at least 15%.
• Climate change creates a dual pressure on the grid by increasing the demand for cooling during heat waves while simultaneously reducing the ability of power plants to generate electricity due to drought and warming temperatures affecting surface water availability.
• Regional analysis shows the Southeast had the highest total number of weather-related outages, while the Midwest had the highest number of outages specifically caused by severe weather.
• Recent years have seen a sharp increase in outages in specific states: Texas saw 44% of its total weather-related outages since 2000 occur between 2019 and 2021, and California saw more than one-third of its total since 2000 occur in that same three-year window.
• In the Western U.S., utilities have implemented 'de-energization' protocols, such as public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) in California and Oregon, to prevent electrical equipment from igniting wildfires during extreme fire weather.
• The economic impact of power outages is severe, with annual costs to the U.S. economy estimated between tens of billions and over one hundred billion dollars.

APA

Climate Central (2022). SURGING POWER OUTAGES and Climate Change. https://assets.ctfassets.net/cxgxgstp8r5d/73igUswSfOhdo7DUDVLwK7/bb0a4e95e1d04457e56106355a1f74b9/2022PowerOutages.pdf

Chicago

Climate Central. SURGING POWER OUTAGES and Climate Change. 2022. https://assets.ctfassets.net/cxgxgstp8r5d/73igUswSfOhdo7DUDVLwK7/bb0a4e95e1d04457e56106355a1f74b9/2022PowerOutages.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Central |title=SURGING POWER OUTAGES and Climate Change |date=14 September 2022 |url=https://assets.ctfassets.net/cxgxgstp8r5d/73igUswSfOhdo7DUDVLwK7/bb0a4e95e1d04457e56106355a1f74b9/2022PowerOutages.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatecentral2022surging, author = {{Climate Central}}, title = {{SURGING POWER OUTAGES and Climate Change}}, institution = {Climate Central}, year = {2022}, month = sep, url = {https://assets.ctfassets.net/cxgxgstp8r5d/73igUswSfOhdo7DUDVLwK7/bb0a4e95e1d04457e56106355a1f74b9/2022PowerOutages.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }