Power outage history
Buffalo County Nebraska
0.7hours
without power for the average customer in a typical year, 2018–2025
21st most of 28 in Nebraska 89% below the national median
Every day since 2015
Eleven years, one night at a time
Each cell is a day. The brighter it is, the larger the share of Buffalo's customers who were without power at that day's worst moment.
Year by year
Hours in the dark, per customer
2019 was the worst well-recorded year, at 1.8 hours for the average customer. Hatched years have a thin record and are left out of the averages.
Buffalo, hours without power per customer
The record
The biggest outages since 2015
Ranked by customer-hours lost: customers out multiplied by how long they stayed out. Times are local.
| Began | Storm | Peak out | Share | Lasted | 90% restored | Customer-hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 9, 2021 | Thunderstorms | 4,455 | 13% | 9.8 h | 5.5 h | 16k |
| Mar 19, 2025 | Winter storm | 4,175 | 12% | 7.5 h | 6.8 h | 12k |
| May 15, 2017 | Thunderstorms | 8,346 | 24% | 1.0 h | 30 min | 8.3k |
| Aug 13, 2022 | No storm report | 4,145 | 12% | 3.2 h | 2.5 h | 5.2k |
| Jul 4, 2022 | No storm report | 2,793 | 8% | 1.8 h | 1.8 h | 4.9k |
| Dec 15, 2021 | Thunderstorms | 846 | 2% | 9.0 h | – | 4.7k |
| Jun 2, 2025 | No storm report | 1,027 | 3% | 5.0 h | – | 3.8k |
| Nov 26, 2021 | No storm report | 1,464 | 4% | 2.5 h | – | 3.3k |
| Sep 30, 2025 | No storm report | 1,137 | 3% | 2.5 h | – | 2.8k |
| Oct 24, 2020 | No storm report | 541 | 2% | 5.2 h | – | 2.8k |
| Aug 28, 2021 | No storm report | 1,159 | 3% | 2.2 h | – | 2.3k |
| Jan 7, 2016 | No storm report | 1,005 | 3% | 2.2 h | – | 2.3k |
| Aug 27, 2017 | Thunderstorms | 780 | 2% | 2.8 h | – | 2.1k |
| Sep 26, 2017 | No storm report | 2,170 | 6% | 1.0 h | 48 min | 2.0k |
| May 16, 2017 | No storm report | 966 | 3% | 2.0 h | – | 1.9k |
| May 3, 2024 | Thunderstorms | 412 | 1% | 4.5 h | – | 1.9k |
| Jun 2, 2020 | No storm report | 2,369 | 7% | 48 min | 12 min | 1.8k |
| Jul 11, 2017 | No storm report | 779 | 2% | 2.2 h | – | 1.8k |
| May 28, 2019 | Thunderstorms | 567 | 2% | 3.0 h | – | 1.7k |
| Jul 8, 2020 | Thunderstorms | 812 | 2% | 2.0 h | – | 1.6k |
| Apr 2, 2024 | No storm report | 1,365 | 4% | 1.5 h | – | 1.6k |
| Nov 14, 2025 | No storm report | 2,861 | 8% | 30 min | 12 min | 1.4k |
| Jul 16, 2023 | No storm report | 394 | 1% | 3.5 h | – | 1.4k |
| Apr 12, 2025 | No storm report | 1,333 | 4% | 1.0 h | – | 1.3k |
| Jul 9, 2019 | Flooding | 420 | 1% | 3.2 h | – | 1.3k |
| Jun 7, 2024 | Thunderstorms | 994 | 3% | 1.2 h | – | 1.2k |
| Jul 27, 2016 | Thunderstorms | 787 | 2% | 1.5 h | – | 1.2k |
| Sep 22, 2024 | No storm report | 416 | 1% | 2.8 h | – | 1.1k |
| Jul 11, 2020 | Thunderstorms | 401 | 1% | 2.8 h | – | 1.1k |
| Mar 9, 2019 | No storm report | 735 | 2% | 1.5 h | – | 1.1k |
After the peak
How fast the lights come back
Each line is one major outage, from its peak. The amber line is the typical path.
When it happens
The outage clock
Customer-hours out by month (rings, January innermost) and local hour, 2018–2025.
What was happening
Weather behind the outages
Each outage is matched to NOAA storm reports for Buffalo from twelve hours before it began to its peak. Matching shows coincidence, not proof of cause.
- No storm on record 50%
- Thunderstorms 34%
- Winter storm 15%
- Flooding 1.5%
Who keeps the lights on
Utilities serving Buffalo
As each utility reports to the Energy Information Administration for its whole Nebraska territory, not this county alone. Outage minutes include major storm days.
| Utility | Type | Outage min / yr | Excl. major storms | Outages / yr | Residential ¢/kWh | Customers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nebraska Public Power District | Political Subdivision | 195 | 77 | 0.90 | 10.9 | 74k |
| Dawson Power District | Political Subdivision | 157 | 106 | – | 11.3 | 16k |
| Southern Public Power District | Political Subdivision | – | – | – | 9.1 | 15k |
| Custer Public Power District | Political Subdivision | 2 | 2 | 0.72 | 13.1 | 4.7k |
EIA Form 861, latest year each utility reported. Outage minutes are SAIDI, the yearly minutes the average customer goes without power; outages a year are SAIFI.
Next door
Neighbouring counties
- Buffalo (this county) 0.7 h
- Dawson 0.6 h
About these numbers
Notes
Outages come from the EAGLE-I record of utility outage maps collected every 15 minutes by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Hours without power are customer-hours divided by the county's 35,218 electricity customers. Averages use well-covered years from 2018. Outages shorter than 15 minutes, and utilities that publish no outage map, are not in the record, so these figures understate the total. How every number is made →