Power outage history
Polk County Wisconsin
3.5hours
without power for the average customer in a typical year, 2018–2025
26th most of 72 in Wisconsin 46% 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 Polk'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 15 hours for the average customer. Hatched years have a thin record and are left out of the averages.
Polk, 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 19, 2019 | Tornadoes | 9,152 | 27% | 6.1 d | 5.0 d | 393k |
| Jul 12, 2017 | Thunderstorms | 10,357 | 31% | 14 h | 10 h | 42k |
| Oct 8, 2019 | No storm report | 3,448 | 10% | 6.5 h | 1.0 h | 18k |
| Jul 28, 2019 | Tornadoes | 6,403 | 19% | 4.0 h | 2.8 h | 18k |
| Jun 5, 2024 | No storm report | 3,568 | 11% | 5.0 h | 3.8 h | 15k |
| Jul 21, 2016 | Thunderstorms | 3,897 | 12% | 8.2 h | 5.0 h | 14k |
| Jul 10, 2020 | No storm report | 3,429 | 10% | 5.5 h | 5.2 h | 14k |
| Jun 11, 2017 | Thunderstorms | 2,049 | 6% | 12 h | 9.8 h | 13k |
| Mar 18, 2020 | No storm report | 3,443 | 10% | 4.5 h | 9.0 h | 12k |
| May 13, 2023 | No storm report | 3,467 | 10% | 3.2 h | 1.0 h | 11k |
| Jul 27, 2023 | Thunderstorms | 2,048 | 6% | 11 h | 3.2 h | 10k |
| Aug 26, 2024 | No storm report | 2,585 | 8% | 7.2 h | 6.2 h | 10k |
| Apr 1, 2023 | Winter storm | 3,526 | 11% | 2.5 h | 2.2 h | 7.8k |
| Jun 17, 2024 | No storm report | 2,216 | 7% | 5.2 h | 4.5 h | 7.2k |
| Nov 24, 2017 | No storm report | 1,786 | 5% | 4.0 h | 5.0 h | 6.8k |
| Jul 18, 2020 | No storm report | 1,056 | 3% | 6.0 h | – | 6.0k |
| Sep 8, 2017 | No storm report | 1,990 | 6% | 3.2 h | 7.5 h | 5.6k |
| Jul 13, 2015 | Thunderstorms | 1,032 | 3% | 10 h | – | 5.3k |
| Sep 25, 2021 | No storm report | 2,567 | 8% | 2.0 h | 2.0 h | 5.1k |
| Aug 27, 2024 | Thunderstorms | 956 | 3% | 8.0 h | – | 4.9k |
| May 9, 2022 | Thunderstorms | 1,438 | 4% | 7.2 h | – | 4.9k |
| Apr 17, 2025 | Thunderstorms | 3,416 | 10% | 2.5 h | 2.5 h | 4.8k |
| Jul 7, 2023 | No storm report | 939 | 3% | 5.2 h | – | 4.7k |
| Oct 3, 2018 | No storm report | 1,176 | 4% | 4.0 h | – | 4.6k |
| Jun 24, 2022 | No storm report | 1,534 | 5% | 7.5 h | – | 4.3k |
| Jul 28, 2021 | Thunderstorms | 1,964 | 6% | 3.0 h | 2.2 h | 4.1k |
| Aug 7, 2023 | No storm report | 839 | 3% | 6.0 h | – | 4.0k |
| Jan 30, 2023 | No storm report | 2,068 | 6% | 2.2 h | 1.5 h | 3.7k |
| Jun 10, 2024 | No storm report | 1,787 | 5% | 2.0 h | 1.5 h | 3.6k |
| Sep 18, 2019 | No storm report | 6,364 | 19% | 1.2 h | 1.5 h | 3.5k |
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 Polk from twelve hours before it began to its peak. Matching shows coincidence, not proof of cause.
- Tornadoes 56%
- No storm on record 36%
- Thunderstorms 5.1%
- Winter storm 2.2%
Who keeps the lights on
Utilities serving Polk
As each utility reports to the Energy Information Administration for its whole Wisconsin territory, not this county alone. Outage minutes include major storm days.
| Utility | Type | Outage min / yr | Excl. major storms | Outages / yr | Residential ¢/kWh | Customers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern States Power Co | Investor Owned | 309 | 110 | 1.15 | 15.6 | 223k |
| St Croix Electric Coop | WI | 146 | 107 | 1.18 | 12.2 | 147k |
| Polk-Burnett Electric Coop | Cooperative | 104 | 44 | 1.47 | 16.0 | 21k |
| Barron Electric Coop | Cooperative | 307 | 126 | 2.18 | 16.0 | 19k |
| Northwestern Wisconsin Elec Co | Investor Owned | – | – | – | 14.6 | 13k |
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
- Washington, MN 4.9 h
- St. Croix 4.2 h
- Chisago, MN 3.8 h
- Polk (this county) 3.5 h
- Barron 2.4 h
- Dunn 1.8 h
- Burnett 1.6 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 33,361 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 →