massoutage

2020 North Carolina Power Outage Report

In 2020, the average North Carolina customer went without power for about 16.4 hours, the 8th worst of 51 states (US average 8.0 hours). Figures from DOE/ORNL EAGLE-I, including major storm days.

Avg hrs / customer
16.4
vs prior year
▲ 44%
vs 2019
Customer-hours out
33.4M
Peak customers out
346,836
across the state at once
EAGLE-I coverage
91%
of NC customers
Counties reporting
100

North Carolina year over year

North Carolina: average hours without power per customer by year2015: 6.5h; 2016: 26.5h; 2017: 8.1h; 2018: 42.5h, coverage 82%; 2019: 11.4h, coverage 90%; 2020: 16.4h, coverage 91%; 2021: 8.9h, coverage 92%; 2022: 17.0h, coverage 92%; 2023: 10.8h; 2024: 36.3h; 2025: 8.5h02040600%50%100%6.5h201526.5h20168.1h201742.5h201811.4h201916.4h20208.9h202117.0h202210.8h202336.3h20248.5h2025
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 North Carolina; October was the worst.

CSVJSON
North Carolina customer-hours without power by month, 2020Jan 1.5M, Feb 3.4M, Mar 535K, Apr 4.8M, May 2.3M, Jun 1.2M, Jul 1.9M, Aug 5.5M, Sep 970K, Oct 8.6M, Nov 1.6M, Dec 966K02.5M5M7.5M10M1.5MJan3.4MFeb535KMar4.8MApr2.3MMay1.2MJun1.9MJul5.5MAug970KSep8.6MOct1.6MNov966KDec
Use the arrow keys to read values.

All 100 North Carolina counties, 2020

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

CSVJSON
#CountyHrs / customerCustomer-hoursCustomersPeak outEvents
1Alamance County216.2200K925925807
2New Hanover County146.5373K2,5442,544945
3Chatham County131.2498K3,7973,797840
4Mecklenburg County127.63.6M28,17228,172337
5Rutherford County94.7671K7,0847,084706
6Vance County92.680K863863678
7Catawba County91.9751K8,1658,165734
8Polk County79.1412K5,2155,215474
9Forsyth County74.42.1M27,91527,915792
10Stokes County73.1456K6,2426,242519
11Durham County65.5394K6,0086,008741
12Caswell County59.6113K1,9051,905378
13Rockingham County56.5532K9,4169,416702
14Yadkin County52.8283K5,3645,364574
15Moore County47.9274K5,7085,708881
16Madison County45.6102K2,2312,231438
17Alexander County44.1304K6,9036,903488
18Anson County41.5263K6,3346,334795
19Hyde County40.428K700700212
20Mitchell County39.266K1,6961,696459
21Wake County34.21.6M46,62243,378706
22Pender County31.9470K14,75014,750895
23Wilkes County31.9256K8,0428,042696
24Pamlico County31.757K1,8111,811322
25Guilford County31.51.3M41,75640,854655
26Jones County31.571K2,2652,265351
27Montgomery County27.2137K5,0384,091642
28Richmond County27.1341K12,59212,499940
29Iredell County26.3926K35,19733,405804
30Yancey County25.351K2,0232,023488
31Johnston County24.7342K13,8288,228815
32Rowan County22.7385K16,9517,948782
33Davie County21.1189K8,9507,003597
34Burke County21.0415K19,74610,129638
35Washington County20.985K4,0624,062275
36Cherokee County20.1325K16,1606,600605
37Granville County19.6125K6,3956,080603
38Gates County19.0104K5,4604,753376
39Buncombe County18.1590K32,49911,649647
40Bertie County17.7180K10,1655,381512
41Duplin County17.2159K9,2586,113696
42Orange County17.0326K19,16313,566884
43Warren County16.864K3,8133,813553
44Brunswick County15.91.3M82,03752,7351,176
45Lee County15.8206K13,0678,972741
46Tyrrell County14.428K1,9791,871136
47Clay County13.8133K9,6374,092475
48Franklin County13.1356K27,29615,099709
49Randolph County12.9402K31,25511,4771,006
50Harnett County12.7281K22,0607,296894
51Onslow County12.4967K77,66950,7891,114
52Cleveland County12.3232K18,8534,619686
53Martin County11.6154K13,2759,474347
54Cabarrus County11.5418K36,29010,369685
55Gaston County11.5544K47,2159,482741
56Davidson County11.1418K37,59211,758867
57Surry County11.0119K10,8532,582808
58Person County11.060K5,4985,498519
59Beaufort County10.4206K19,7209,626465
60Bladen County10.3120K11,7066,156647
61McDowell County10.2127K12,4423,028551
62Northampton County9.860K6,0482,583463
63Currituck County9.2164K17,7957,570440
64Camden County9.156K6,1872,827171
65Lincoln County9.0229K25,5638,551601
66Hertford County8.5120K14,0124,964510
67Nash County8.1211K26,2436,702592
68Sampson County7.9154K19,4207,826788
69Craven County7.8274K35,03316,107690
70Wayne County7.6137K18,0423,131814
71Dare County7.4175K23,6238,792661
72Scotland County7.276K10,5182,989620
73Union County7.0461K65,40814,693921
74Lenoir County7.0106K15,1485,556420
75Columbus County6.8155K22,7368,768889
76Chowan County6.679K12,0473,308187
77Carteret County6.1241K39,43211,895852
78Hoke County5.673K12,9123,769649
79Perquimans County5.544K7,9071,927244
80Greene County5.027K5,4871,752123
81Robeson County4.2255K60,4557,689909
82Stanly County4.1112K26,9681,987617
83Halifax County3.292K28,8262,128795
84Wilson County3.1109K35,64425,920320
85Caldwell County2.4105K43,2964,253755
86Edgecombe County2.243K19,5602,178351
87Avery County1.937K18,9861,281119
88Cumberland County1.8171K93,8414,820960
89Pasquotank County1.656K34,1222,515206
90Watauga County1.426K18,2481,762661
91Ashe County1.424K17,5061,551669
92Alleghany County1.39,9827,6171,143325
93Pitt County0.220K80,606763500
94Graham County-161K-6,429273
95Haywood County-392K-28,871807
96Henderson County-1.2M-19,644753
97Jackson County-466K-16,133657
98Macon County-377K-7,147682
99Swain County-240K-7,560450
100Transylvania County-551K-10,446600

Biggest North Carolina outages of 2020

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

CSVJSON
#CountyStarted (UTC)Ended (UTC)DurationPeak outCustomer-hours
1Brunswick County, NCAugust 3, 2020 19:45August 11, 2020 23:158d 3h52,7351.1M
2Onslow County, NCAugust 4, 2020 01:45August 7, 2020 04:303d 2h50,789712K
3Brunswick County, NCApril 2, 2020 15:30April 2, 2020 17:001h 30m49,04153K
4Wake County, NCFebruary 6, 2020 09:15February 9, 2020 05:452d 20h43,378541K
5Guilford County, NCOctober 29, 2020 07:45November 3, 2020 07:154d 23h40,854697K
6Wake County, NCApril 12, 2020 23:30April 16, 2020 06:453d 7h39,032230K
7Iredell County, NCOctober 29, 2020 09:30November 2, 2020 22:154d 12h33,405615K
8Haywood County, NCJuly 4, 2020 13:00July 5, 2020 08:1519h 15m28,871155K
9Mecklenburg County, NCOctober 28, 2020 11:45November 1, 2020 07:453d 20h28,172389K
10Mecklenburg County, NCApril 12, 2020 13:15April 16, 2020 08:303d 19h28,172502K
11Mecklenburg County, NCMay 22, 2020 11:30May 26, 2020 08:153d 20h28,172698K
12Forsyth County, NCOctober 29, 2020 12:30November 3, 2020 05:304d 17h27,9151.4M
13Haywood County, NCJuly 11, 2020 06:15July 11, 2020 22:3016h 15m26,48522K
14Forsyth County, NCMay 3, 2020 11:45May 4, 2020 01:1513h 30m26,43736K
15Wilson County, NCOctober 1, 2020 17:15October 1, 2020 18:301h 15m25,92024K
16Mecklenburg County, NCFebruary 6, 2020 04:45February 11, 2020 04:455d25,491648K
17Mecklenburg County, NCApril 29, 2020 12:45May 2, 2020 03:002d 14h25,35496K
18Mecklenburg County, NCJuly 15, 2020 10:30July 25, 2020 10:009d 23h22,195200K
19Henderson County, NCApril 13, 2020 03:30April 17, 2020 03:153d 23h19,644589K
20Jackson County, NCJuly 4, 2020 01:45July 5, 2020 06:451d 5h16,13394K
21Craven County, NCAugust 4, 2020 03:30August 5, 2020 21:301d 18h16,107161K
22Franklin County, NCFebruary 6, 2020 19:30February 9, 2020 03:152d 7h15,099236K
23Pender County, NCAugust 4, 2020 00:30August 6, 2020 11:152d 10h14,750350K
24Union County, NCMay 22, 2020 12:30May 25, 2020 07:152d 18h14,69394K
25Wake County, NCOctober 29, 2020 12:15October 31, 2020 04:451d 16h13,92441K
EAGLE-I tracked about 91% of North Carolina'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.
North Carolina by year:2025202420232022202120192018201720162015
Other states in 2020:LAMEOKIAALMSNJWV

Part of the 2020 US Power Outage Report.

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