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U.S. Blackout Tracker

The Urban Climate Lab Blackout Tracker reports the monthly and annual frequency of electrical grid blackout events across the United States. The data comes from Electric Power Monthly reports, published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Our analysis finds a growing trend of major disturbances to utilities and resulting blackout events, which the EIA defines as a disruption that affects at least 50,000 people and lasts for at least 1 hour. The UCL Blackout Tracker will be continually updated with each new Electric Power Monthly report and extends a recently published analysis of blackout trends and heat wave impacts available here.

See below for the collected and cleaned data, or visit https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/ to learn more about the source data.

Chart showing total number of blackouts per year, 2015-2020
Chart showing total number of blackouts per season, 2015-2020

MonthNumber of blackouts, 2015 - 2020
January20
February33
March42
April45
May38
June27
July43
August60
September33
October46
November22
December17
Total426

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Affiliations

Georgia Tech | College of Design | School of City and Regional Planning

Sponsors

National Science Foundation | National Institute of Health | US Forest Service

Stone's forthcoming book, Radical Adaptation: Transforming Cities for a Climate Changed World, is available for pre-order from Cambridge University Press. 

Recent News

Approaching the limits of climate viability in cites

UCL completes first heat and flood risk assessment for major US city

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Louisville's plan to combat urban heat could take a century at its current pace -- NPR

UCL Study on Blackout + Heat Wave Risk in New York Times

Grid Collapse Article in Wired Magazine based on UCL Study

Stone featured in PBS NOVA documentary: Weathering the Future

Conversations with Cabrera: Climate Action

Georgians without air conditioning endure dangerous heat

How tech can help paint a clearer picture of extreme heat in Atlanta – WABE

Facing a sizzling summer, large parts of the U.S. risk blackouts, government agency warns - CBS News

UCL study featured on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Yang's Georgia Tech studio applies new analytics to reduce flood risk, increase resiliency in Tokyo

Mallen interviewed on Dense City podcast - "Lights Out: Climate Change and Infrastructure Risk

Hot Summer Nights Get Hotter, and More Dangerous - New York Times

Atlanta's heat wave and blackout risk in Atlanta Magazine

UCL work featured in the New York Times

UCL work featured in the Wall Street Journal

Heat hits people of color the hardest -- Washington Post

UCL study featured in New York Times

Stone on the Daily Show: Arizona in the Grip of Climate Change

Stone interviewed for New York Magazine story on adaptation

UCL study featured in the Atlantic

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