Power Outages in Watauga County, NC
As of the latest utility report, no major power outages are reported in Watauga County, NC. In 2025, the average customer here lost power for about 10.4 hours.
Watauga County, NC is served by 1 tracked utility.
No active power outages are currently reported in Watauga County.
No active NWS alerts for Watauga County right now.
Watauga County has been under 48 National Weather Service alerts recently — most recently a Special Weather Statement on August 21, 2026.
- Flood Watch ×18
- Special Weather Statement ×14
- Severe Thunderstorm Watch ×6
- Flood Advisory ×4
- Severe Thunderstorm Warning ×3
- Flash Flood Warning ×2
Latest Watauga County, NC outage updates
A running log of how this outage has changed — updated automatically as utilities report in.
- RESOLVED
Power restored after 11m
- OUTAGE BEGAN
Outage began — 1,084 customers out (5.9% of the county)
- RESOLVED
Power restored after 32m
- OUTAGE BEGAN
Outage began — 688 customers out (3.8% of the county)
- RESOLVED
Power restored after 15m
- OUTAGE BEGAN
Outage began — 532 customers out (2.9% of the county)
- RESOLVED
Power restored after 59m
- OUTAGE BEGAN
Outage began — 693 customers out (3.8% of the county)
Hardest-hit cities in Watauga County
Where this event is concentrated across the county's towns and townships.
Historical reliability
In 2025, the average customer in Watauga County went about 10.4 hours without power. Peak simultaneous outage on record reached 25,405 customers.
Worst year here was 2024 (peak 25,405 customers out) · decade average 20.0 hrs without power per customer/yr.
| Year | Outage events | Peak customers out | Avg hrs/customer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 271 | 1,917 | 0.6 |
| 2016 | 685 | 11,689 | 11.3 |
| 2017 | 684 | 2,426 | 3.0 |
| 2018 | 706 | 5,519 | 4.7 |
| 2019 | 663 | 4,624 | 2.6 |
| 2020 | 661 | 1,762 | 1.4 |
| 2021 | 647 | 6,745 | 2.0 |
| 2022 | 714 | 6,029 | 3.1 |
| 2023 | 690 | 1,383 | 2.0 |
| 2024 | 496 | 25,405 | 178.5 |
| 2025 | 701 | 5,711 | 10.4 |
Relatively Moderate ice storms exposure · 20.0 hrs/yr of outages over the last decade.
FEMA rates this county’s social vulnerability relatively high — outages hit harder where communities are less able to respond and recover.
All hazard rankings →Power outages in Watauga County: FAQ
- How often does Watauga County, NC lose power?
- Based on EAGLE-I records, Watauga County, NC logged 701 distinct outage events in 2025, averaging about 10.4 hours without power per customer over the year.
- What was the worst power outage in Watauga County, NC?
- The largest tracked outage peaked at 25,405 customers without power, beginning September 27, 2024 and lasting about 16d 8h.
- Is there a power outage in Watauga County, NC right now?
- No major outage is currently reported for Watauga County, NC. Live coverage depends on whether local utilities report to ODIN.
- Which utilities serve Watauga County, NC?
- Tracked electric providers include BLUE RIDGE ELEC MEMBER CORP - (NC).
Outages are tracked at the county level; these ZIP codes fall within Watauga County.
28604, 28605, 28607, 28618, 28679, 28692, 28698
Electric providers serving this county
From EIA-861 service territory, with official reliability where reported.
| Provider | Official SAIDI (EIA) | Live | Report outage |
|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE RIDGE ELEC MEMBER CORP - (NC) | — | ODIN ✓ | — |
Machine-readable data: /api/v1/counties/37189 and /api/v1/counties/37189/history. Historical figures derive from the DOE/ORNL EAGLE-I dataset (EAGLE-I tracked roughly 0% of North Carolina customers).