Power outage history
Dakota County Nebraska
0.9hours
without power for the average customer in a typical year, 2018–2025
20th most of 28 in Nebraska 86% 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 Dakota's customers who were without power at that day's worst moment.
Year by year
Hours in the dark, per customer
2022 was the worst well-recorded year, at 3.8 hours for the average customer. Hatched years have a thin record and are left out of the averages.
Dakota, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 13, 2022 | No storm report | 3,498 | 21% | 17 h | 17 h | 59k |
| Mar 19, 2025 | Winter storm | 1,280 | 8% | 6.2 h | 4.2 h | 4.8k |
| Apr 26, 2024 | No storm report | 3,049 | 18% | 1.5 h | 1.5 h | 4.6k |
| Dec 27, 2018 | No storm report | 2,850 | 17% | 1.5 h | 2.2 h | 4.2k |
| Jun 13, 2017 | Thunderstorms | 2,733 | 16% | 1.2 h | 48 min | 3.4k |
| Jul 17, 2015 | Thunderstorms | 1,638 | 10% | 3.0 h | 2.0 h | 3.2k |
| Jun 17, 2016 | No storm report | 687 | 4% | 7.5 h | – | 2.9k |
| Mar 13, 2022 | No storm report | 1,731 | 10% | 2.2 h | 14 h | 2.9k |
| Apr 7, 2023 | No storm report | 972 | 6% | 2.5 h | 2.0 h | 2.2k |
| Aug 6, 2025 | No storm report | 2,674 | 16% | 48 min | 48 min | 2.0k |
| Aug 25, 2024 | Heat | 3,505 | 21% | 48 min | 30 min | 1.8k |
| Feb 15, 2024 | No storm report | 1,069 | 6% | 1.2 h | 1.2 h | 1.3k |
| Oct 7, 2016 | No storm report | 965 | 6% | 2.5 h | 1.2 h | 1.3k |
| Jul 21, 2017 | No storm report | 201 | 1% | 6.5 h | – | 1.1k |
| Sep 25, 2021 | No storm report | 1,005 | 6% | 1.2 h | 48 min | 1.0k |
| Sep 6, 2024 | No storm report | 668 | 4% | 1.5 h | – | 1.0k |
| Jun 3, 2023 | No storm report | 557 | 3% | 1.2 h | – | 696 |
| Sep 30, 2021 | No storm report | 926 | 5% | 48 min | 48 min | 694 |
| Jun 21, 2018 | No storm report | 440 | 3% | 1.8 h | – | 672 |
| Oct 15, 2017 | No storm report | 321 | 2% | 2.0 h | – | 642 |
| Jun 4, 2020 | No storm report | 213 | 1% | 3.0 h | – | 639 |
| Dec 5, 2019 | No storm report | 1,032 | 6% | 30 min | 1.0 h | 516 |
| Jul 24, 2018 | No storm report | 845 | 5% | 1.0 h | – | 514 |
| Dec 25, 2016 | Windstorm | 478 | 3% | 1.0 h | – | 457 |
| Nov 8, 2024 | No storm report | 309 | 2% | 1.5 h | – | 420 |
| Jul 12, 2023 | Thunderstorms | 407 | 2% | 1.0 h | – | 407 |
| Feb 25, 2018 | No storm report | 174 | 1% | 2.0 h | – | 348 |
| Apr 24, 2024 | No storm report | 172 | 1% | 2.0 h | – | 344 |
| Jun 13, 2023 | No storm report | 544 | 3% | 30 min | – | 272 |
| Jun 30, 2018 | No storm report | 259 | 2% | 48 min | – | 194 |
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 Dakota from twelve hours before it began to its peak. Matching shows coincidence, not proof of cause.
- No storm on record 92%
- Winter storm 5.3%
- Heat 2.0%
Who keeps the lights on
Utilities serving Dakota
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 |
| Northeast Power | Political Subdivision | – | – | – | 9.6 | 6.9k |
| City of Emerson | NE | – | – | – | – | 5.8k |
| City of South Sioux City | Municipal | – | – | – | 12.9 | 5.1k |
| WAPA-- Western Area Power Administration | Federal | – | – | – | – | – |
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
- Union, SD 1.8 h
- Woodbury, IA 1.6 h
- Dakota (this county) 0.9 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 17,046 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 →