massoutage

2020 California Power Outage Report

In 2020, the average California customer went without power for about 6.2 hours, the 20th worst of 51 states (US average 8.0 hours). Figures from DOE/ORNL EAGLE-I, including major storm days.

Avg hrs / customer
6.2
vs prior year
▼ 33%
vs 2019
Customer-hours out
98.3M
Peak customers out
469,822
across the state at once
EAGLE-I coverage
94%
of CA customers
Counties reporting
58

California year over year

California: average hours without power per customer by year2015: 3.1h; 2016: 2.5h; 2017: 2.2h; 2018: 3.7h, coverage 91%; 2019: 9.3h, coverage 93%; 2020: 6.2h, coverage 94%; 2021: 6.6h, coverage 95%; 2022: 4.9h, coverage 95%; 2023: 7.9h; 2024: 6.1h; 2025: 7.5h02.557.5100%50%100%3.1h20152.5h20162.2h20173.7h20189.3h20196.2h20206.6h20214.9h20227.9h20236.1h20247.5h2025
Use the arrow keys to read values.
Average hours without power per customer. Line: EAGLE-I coverage, share of customers tracked (right axis).

Month by month, 2020

Customer-hours without power across California; October was the worst.

CSVJSON
California customer-hours without power by month, 2020Jan 4.2M, Feb 5.3M, Mar 5.8M, Apr 2.6M, May 4.0M, Jun 4.1M, Jul 4.2M, Aug 12.8M, Sep 20.2M, Oct 23.5M, Nov 4.7M, Dec 6.9M010M20M30M4.2MJan5.3MFeb5.8MMar2.6MApr4.0MMay4.1MJun4.2MJul12.8MAug20.2MSep23.5MOct4.7MNov6.9MDec
Use the arrow keys to read values.

All 58 California counties, 2020

Ranked by average hours without power per customer. Each county links to its annual report.

CSVJSON
#CountyHrs / customerCustomer-hoursCustomersPeak outEvents
1Sierra County202.8420K2,0721,701177
2Calaveras County93.71.7M18,41718,327546
3Tuolumne County90.12.1M23,61023,610607
4Plumas County82.9765K9,2309,230293
5Alpine County77.368K88265433
6Amador County57.8985K17,05011,300514
7Napa County56.63.6M63,82824,372547
8Nevada County53.62.8M52,25136,536599
9El Dorado County51.95.0M95,67272,584539
10Lake County50.21.4M28,39722,737552
11Butte County41.13.7M90,54317,500631
12Santa Cruz County37.94.5M118,29989,427577
13Mono County32.7182K5,5515,551253
14Shasta County29.02.4M81,28228,630514
15Yuba County28.81.0M35,93317,497727
16Mariposa County28.7208K7,2627,262484
17Humboldt County19.61.2M59,96259,962617
18Sonoma County18.94.0M214,12742,617572
19Tehama County17.3486K28,13419,125636
20Imperial County12.4902K72,6912,51384
21Siskiyou County10.5281K26,6059,310715
22Mendocino County8.6335K39,0413,766587
23Madera County8.4576K68,50311,927704
24Placer County8.41.6M187,52517,195515
25Marin County8.3941K113,04451,695666
26Del Norte County8.0130K16,1952,409490
27Solano County7.51.4M187,69036,368626
28Tulare County6.81.3M186,93924,731394
29San Bernardino County6.45.4M840,55562,238295
30Fresno County6.22.8M458,08469,680279
31Santa Barbara County6.11.2M192,08020,656502
32Sutter County5.7243K42,32316,528636
33Glenn County5.567K12,2332,285480
34Ventura County5.31.7M317,65884,083572
35Inyo County5.237K7,2012,596145
36Colusa County5.151K9,9704,322411
37Merced County5.0281K56,07714,687775
38Monterey County4.7926K195,57559,117579
39San Diego County4.66.3M1,362,92974,451281
40Kern County4.51.8M395,01516,233416
41Riverside County4.43.8M853,92369,172191
42San Mateo County4.11.4M328,40836,697506
43San Luis Obispo County3.9493K125,72718,921637
44Alameda County3.92.9M751,61655,472482
45Santa Clara County3.83.2M844,71534,460374
46Contra Costa County3.71.8M486,94518,389568
47Los Angeles County3.714.0M3,762,600133,8852
48San Francisco County3.6745K209,75310,065944
49Yolo County3.4345K101,5094,243629
50San Benito County3.183K26,7036,709436
51Kings County2.8174K62,9988,885565
52Orange County2.32.8M1,255,53023,812386
53San Joaquin County2.1696K324,54367,403610
54Modoc County1.38,8746,598680271
55Sacramento County1.3802K625,56631,910731
56Stanislaus County0.5112K219,1565,539570
57Lassen County0.22,73115,44033070
58Trinity County-282K-1,041223

Biggest California outages of 2020

Up to 25 county outage episodes with the most customers out at once.

CSVJSON
#CountyStarted (UTC)Ended (UTC)DurationPeak outCustomer-hours
1Los Angeles County, CAOctober 20, 2020 12:30December 31, 2020 00:1571d 11h133,8853.2M
2Santa Cruz County, CAAugust 14, 2020 14:15September 20, 2020 05:1536d 15h89,4273.4M
3Los Angeles County, CAJanuary 1, 2020 00:00October 20, 2020 11:00293d 11h88,90210.8M
4Ventura County, CADecember 7, 2020 16:15December 11, 2020 03:303d 11h84,083131K
5San Diego County, CANovember 30, 2020 06:00December 10, 2020 12:4510d 6h74,4512.8M
6El Dorado County, CAAugust 14, 2020 15:15August 19, 2020 04:004d 12h72,584179K
7Fresno County, CAMarch 16, 2020 11:45March 20, 2020 09:453d 22h69,68070K
8Riverside County, CAJanuary 6, 2020 16:15January 12, 2020 02:005d 9h69,17247K
9San Joaquin County, CAAugust 12, 2020 14:30August 22, 2020 18:4510d 4h67,403165K
10Santa Cruz County, CADecember 16, 2020 00:00December 16, 2020 02:002h63,03516K
11San Bernardino County, CAOctober 20, 2020 13:45October 31, 2020 10:0010d 20h62,2381.2M
12Humboldt County, CAJanuary 15, 2020 17:45January 24, 2020 02:158d 8h59,962647K
13Monterey County, CAAugust 14, 2020 16:15September 13, 2020 01:1529d 9h59,117461K
14Alameda County, CAFebruary 8, 2020 16:45February 13, 2020 11:154d 18h55,472603K
15Marin County, CAAugust 14, 2020 15:30August 19, 2020 07:154d 15h51,695237K
16San Diego County, CAAugust 3, 2020 14:30August 16, 2020 22:4513d 8h51,308205K
17Riverside County, CAOctober 29, 2020 15:45November 11, 2020 10:1512d 18h42,783150K
18Sonoma County, CAAugust 13, 2020 14:00September 20, 2020 05:1537d 15h42,6171.2M
19El Dorado County, CAOctober 25, 2020 22:15October 29, 2020 03:153d 5h39,3561.5M
20San Mateo County, CAAugust 13, 2020 13:00September 20, 2020 05:1537d 16h36,697470K
21Nevada County, CAOctober 25, 2020 21:15October 28, 2020 19:302d 22h36,5361.5M
22Solano County, CAJune 2, 2020 14:15June 3, 2020 09:3019h 15m36,368173K
23Santa Clara County, CAAugust 13, 2020 14:45September 20, 2020 05:1537d 14h34,4601.5M
24San Bernardino County, CASeptember 5, 2020 16:00September 18, 2020 05:1512d 13h32,929387K
25Sacramento County, CAOctober 31, 2020 00:00October 31, 2020 10:1510h 15m31,91016K
EAGLE-I tracked about 94% of California's electricity customers in 2020; outages at utilities it does not see are not counted. Hours per customer divide outage customer-minutes by modeled county customers.
California by year:2025202420232022202120192018201720162015
Other states in 2020:LAMEOKIAALMSNJNC

Part of the 2020 US Power Outage Report.

Data from DOE EAGLE-I, every source we read.