Power After the Storm

The report analyzes power outage data from 2014 to 2024 in the central United States, specifically the MISO+ region, finding that all of the 100 worst outage days were caused by extreme weather. It highlights that the 10 most severe events occurred after 2020 and were often compound disasters, such as hurricanes combined with flooding or winter storms with tornadoes. The document argues that climate change is intensifying these risks—increasing the frequency of derechos, the rainfall of hurricanes, and the potential for severe winter outbreaks—while disproportionately impacting socially vulnerable communities. It recommends that utilities, states, and regional operators implement comprehensive climate risk assessments, accelerate the clean energy transition, and engage in meaningful community partnership to build a resilient grid.

• Every one of the 100 worst power outage days in the central United States between 2014 and 2024, based on the maximum number of customers affected, was caused by a large-scale extreme weather event.
• The most severe power outages are typically the result of compounding disasters rather than single weather events, such as a hurricane occurring alongside coastal and inland flooding or a winter storm paired with a tornado outbreak.
• There is a recent escalation in grid failure severity, with all of the 10 largest power outage events in the MISO+ region occurring since 2020.
• Climate change is projected to increase severe thunderstorm activity, including derechos and hail-producing storms, particularly in regions east of the Mississippi River and south from Arkansas by the end of the century.
• While the total number of hurricanes may be uncertain, those that make landfall in the U.S. are intensifying more rapidly and carrying more extreme precipitation due to human-caused climate change.
• Winter storm patterns are shifting; while the overall cold season is shrinking and snowfall may decrease in some areas, storms that do occur may be more intense, and Arctic warming may bring severe cold to regions not typically accustomed to it.
• Power outages exacerbate existing social inequities, as lower-income residents in mobile homes or apartments often face greater damage and longer wait times for power restoration.
• Current grid resilience planning in the MISO+ region is largely inadequate and piecemeal, with only Michigan, Texas, and the city of New Orleans requiring utilities to file specific resilience plans as of January 2025.
• Winter Storm Uri in February 2021 demonstrated the critical need for an interconnected bulk transmission system to allow regions to import power from less-affected areas, a capability that was lacking in the isolated Texas grid.

APA

Licker, R., Moser, S., Gomberg, S., Fencl, A., Sathia, S., & Toweh, J. (2026). Power After the Storm. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2026-02/Power-After-the-Storm.pdf

Chicago

Licker, Rachel, Susanne Moser, Sam Gomberg, Amanda Fencl, Sital Sathia, and Jayson Toweh. Power After the Storm. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2026. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2026-02/Power-After-the-Storm.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{licker2026power, author = {Licker, Rachel and Moser, Susanne and Gomberg, Sam and Fencl, Amanda and Sathia, Sital and Toweh, Jayson}, title = {{Power After the Storm}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2026}, month = jan, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2026-02/Power-After-the-Storm.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }