Power outage history
Dawes County Nebraska
1.5hours
without power for the average customer in a typical year, 2018–2025
18th most of 28 in Nebraska 77% 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 Dawes'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.
Dawes, 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 27, 2017 | Thunderstorms | 2,857 | 51% | 7.8 h | 8.8 h | 22k |
| Nov 7, 2022 | Windstorm | 2,658 | 48% | 13 h | 7.2 h | 18k |
| Jun 28, 2016 | Thunderstorms | 1,827 | 33% | 12 h | 1.8 h | 8.4k |
| Mar 8, 2017 | No storm report | 2,891 | 52% | 2.5 h | 2.5 h | 6.6k |
| May 21, 2025 | No storm report | 2,246 | 40% | 3.8 h | 2.8 h | 6.2k |
| Jul 18, 2017 | No storm report | 2,858 | 51% | 2.0 h | 2.0 h | 5.2k |
| May 12, 2023 | No storm report | 1,820 | 33% | 1.2 h | 3.5 h | 2.3k |
| Mar 29, 2017 | No storm report | 2,885 | 52% | 48 min | 48 min | 2.2k |
| Apr 11, 2021 | No storm report | 1,027 | 18% | 3.2 h | 2.0 h | 2.1k |
| Jul 19, 2022 | No storm report | 778 | 14% | 2.5 h | 2.8 h | 1.9k |
| Nov 12, 2020 | No storm report | 437 | 8% | 3.5 h | 3.5 h | 1.5k |
| Apr 27, 2017 | No storm report | 768 | 14% | 3.5 h | 1.8 h | 1.5k |
| Jun 6, 2020 | Thunderstorms | 383 | 7% | 3.0 h | 2.8 h | 1.1k |
| May 9, 2016 | No storm report | 1,963 | 35% | 30 min | 30 min | 982 |
| Apr 10, 2019 | No storm report | 747 | 13% | 1.2 h | 1.2 h | 934 |
| Dec 23, 2021 | No storm report | 229 | 4% | 4.0 h | – | 916 |
| Aug 1, 2023 | No storm report | 216 | 4% | 6.5 h | – | 911 |
| Apr 15, 2017 | No storm report | 389 | 7% | 2.2 h | 1.8 h | 875 |
| Aug 17, 2020 | Thunderstorms | 450 | 8% | 1.8 h | 1.8 h | 788 |
| Jun 17, 2015 | No storm report | 469 | 8% | 1.8 h | 1.0 h | 786 |
| Nov 26, 2025 | No storm report | 314 | 6% | 2.5 h | 2.5 h | 782 |
| May 15, 2017 | Thunderstorms | 642 | 12% | 4.0 h | 1.0 h | 769 |
| Apr 7, 2024 | No storm report | 179 | 3% | 4.0 h | – | 713 |
| Oct 2, 2024 | No storm report | 301 | 5% | 2.0 h | 2.0 h | 560 |
| Oct 13, 2021 | Windstorm | 468 | 8% | 4.8 h | 12 min | 412 |
| May 26, 2025 | No storm report | 320 | 6% | 1.0 h | 1.0 h | 318 |
| Jun 29, 2016 | No storm report | 67 | 1% | 4.0 h | – | 256 |
| Mar 30, 2021 | No storm report | 76 | 1% | 3.2 h | – | 247 |
| Apr 5, 2022 | No storm report | 207 | 4% | 1.8 h | – | 207 |
| May 2, 2024 | No storm report | 67 | 1% | 2.8 h | – | 184 |
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 Dawes from twelve hours before it began to its peak. Matching shows coincidence, not proof of cause.
- No storm on record 50%
- Windstorm 45%
- Thunderstorms 5.0%
Who keeps the lights on
Utilities serving Dawes
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 |
| Northwest Rural Pub Pwr Dist | NE | 419 | 280 | 2.42 | 14.2 | 26k |
| Niobrara Electric Assn, Inc | WY | – | – | – | – | 4.9k |
| 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
- Sioux 12 h
- Fall River, SD 6.1 h
- Dawes (this county) 1.5 h
- Sheridan 1.3 h
- Oglala Lakota, SD 1.0 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 5,555 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 →