A facility’s power strategy must be built on data, not guesswork. For any business with critical operations, the stability of the local power grid is a primary factor in risk management. While major storms make headlines, it’s the grid’s day-to-day performance that has the most significant cumulative impact on operational planning.
This report provides the data-driven insight needed to move beyond reactive measures. Using the latest 2023 figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), we analyze which state grids delivered the best everyday reliability, which ones struggled, and where extreme weather exposure creates the most significant risk. This is an actionable tool for facility managers and engineers to set realistic runtime targets, define testing cadences, and engineer a fuel plan that matches the unique risk profile of their location.
Key Reliability Metrics: SAIDI and SAIFI
To properly assess risk, it’s crucial to understand the two primary metrics the energy industry uses to measure grid performance:
- SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index): This is the most important metric for strategic planning. It represents the average total time a customer is without power over a year, measured in minutes. A high SAIDI indicates long, potentially damaging outages.
- SAIFI (System Average Interruption Frequency Index): This metric tracks the average number of times a customer’s power is interrupted. A high SAIFI indicates a less stable grid, even if the outages are short.
This report focuses on SAIDI, as the total duration of an outage is the most critical factor for industrial planning. The EIA also separates data by Major Event Days (MEDs), such as hurricanes or wildfires. The gap between “everyday reliability” (without MEDs) and “all events” reliability (with MEDs) is a clear indicator of a state’s vulnerability to extreme weather.
The 2023 National Baseline
According to the EIA, the national average for grid reliability in 2023 provides a clear benchmark for any facility in the U.S.
- National Everyday SAIDI: 118.4 minutes
- National Everyday SAIFI: 0.999 interruptions
The average U.S. customer experienced just under two hours of non-storm-related outages over the year. If your state’s everyday SAIDI is significantly higher, your facility operates on a grid with below-average stability.
Top 10 States for Everyday Reliability
These states demonstrated the most stable grid performance in 2023, excluding major storm days. For businesses operating here, day-to-day interruptions are less of a concern, and resilience planning should focus primarily on high-impact, low-frequency major events.
Lowest SAIDI Minutes per Customer (2023, Major Event Days Excluded)
- District of Columbia: 33.3 minutes
- Rhode Island: 52.2 minutes
- Illinois: 56.2 minutes
- Nebraska: 56.8 minutes
- Delaware: 60.4 minutes
- South Dakota: 63.2 minutes
- Maryland: 66.9 minutes
- Florida: 69.2 minutes
- Arizona: 69.3 minutes
- Connecticut: 70.3 minutes
(Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2023)
Bottom 10 States for Everyday Reliability
These states experienced the longest duration of day-to-day outages, indicating a grid more susceptible to routine failures. Facilities in these states must adopt a more conservative power strategy, anticipating more frequent or longer interruptions as part of normal operations.
Highest SAIDI Minutes per Customer (2023, Major Event Days Excluded)
- West Virginia: 385.7 minutes
- Alaska: 325.7 minutes
- Mississippi: 252.8 minutes
- Maine: 247.4 minutes
- Arkansas: 221.7 minutes
- Vermont: 221.3 minutes
- Louisiana: 195.0 minutes
- Tennessee: 186.1 minutes
- Michigan: 162.7 minutes
- Virginia: 159.3 minutes
(Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2023)
The Storm Exposure Watchlist: Quantifying Weather Risk
Strong everyday reliability can create a false sense of security. The true test of a grid is its performance during a major storm. The states on this watchlist have the largest gap between their “everyday” and “all events” reliability, showing a high vulnerability to extreme weather. A report from Climate Central confirms this, finding that roughly 80% of major U.S. outages since 2000 were weather-related. For businesses in these states, planning for multi-day, storm-driven outages is the central pillar of a realistic power continuity strategy.
Biggest Gap Between “All Events” and “Everyday” SAIDI (2023)
- Maine: 1,863 vs. 247.4 minutes
- Oklahoma: 896.6 vs. 139.3 minutes
- Arkansas: 911.2 vs. 221.7 minutes
- Tennessee: 857.9 vs. 186.1 minutes
- Mississippi: 802.1 vs. 252.8 minutes
- West Virginia: 751.5 vs. 385.7 minutes
- Louisiana: 584.2 vs. 195.0 minutes
- Texas: 496.2 vs. 124.7 minutes
- Hawaii: 491.8 vs. 148.6 minutes
- California: 346.6 vs. 152.0 minutes
(Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2023)
State Snapshots for Core Regions
Colorado
- Everyday SAIDI: 88.4 minutes
- All-Events SAIDI: 99.2 minutes
- The Signal: Colorado’s grid is strong on a day-to-day basis, with a minimal increase in outage duration from major events. This indicates a stable grid where primary threats are localized. For facilities here, the focus should be on ATS responsiveness and routine fuel maintenance.
Florida
- Everyday SAIDI: 69.2 minutes
- All-Events SAIDI: 160.1 minutes
- The Signal: Florida has excellent baseline performance, ranking in the top 10 for everyday reliability. However, hurricane exposure remains the single most important planning driver. The strategic focus must be on extended, multi-day runtimes and verifying the integrity of hardened enclosures and cooling systems.
Texas
- Everyday SAIDI: 124.7 minutes
- All-Events SAIDI: 496.2 minutes
- The Signal: While everyday performance is near the national average, the state’s extreme storm exposure is significant, placing it on the top 10 watchlist. The massive gap between the two SAIDI values reflects the impact of events like winter freezes on the ERCOT grid. Planning must treat severe weather as a predictable threat and confirm fuel logistics for multi-day events.
Actionable Industrial Takeaways
This data provides the foundation for a smarter, site-specific power strategy. Here is how to translate these insights into action:
1. Set a Realistic Runtime Target Use the “everyday” SAIDI figure for baseline planning and the “all-events” number for stress-test scenarios. If your facility is in a state on the Storm Exposure Watchlist, your planning must account for multi-day outages. Critical environments like healthcare and data centers should always bias runtime targets higher than the reported average.
2. Test Under Load Before Peak Season A generator exercised with no load is an unproven asset. A professional load bank test is the only way to validate the entire system under the stress of a real-world scenario. For facilities in high-risk states, this test should be a mandatory pre-season requirement.
3. Develop a Resilient Fuel Plan Your fuel strategy must match your risk profile. Diesel provides reliable power and is simple to manage on-site, making it the standard for critical applications. In high-risk regions, this must be paired with routine fuel sampling and a firm, pre-arranged post-storm fuel delivery agreement. Natural gas can support longer runs where supply is resilient but is a vulnerability in states with high storm or seismic risk.
4. Conduct an Annual Settings Review Many outage-related issues stem from protective settings on the Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) that no longer match the facility’s actual electrical load. An annual review and recalibration by a qualified technician can prevent nuisance trips.
5. Document the Runbook In an emergency, clear instructions are paramount. Create a simple guide with startup procedures, load priorities, fuel contacts, alarm routing,ary fuel contacts, alarm routing instruct and a calersonnel. your operators on this runbook and run a quick drill annually.
Need help sizing, testing, or developing a strategy for your system? Explore industrial generators for sale or talk to a Generator Source expert today.