Birmingham, Alabama Power Outage Today

How reliable is Alabama Power service in Birmingham?

Alabama Power is an investor-owned utility with 1,518,035 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 2.04 interruptions and 334 minutes (about 5.6 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 2.7 hours.

About 65% of that time came on major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately. On ordinary days the average falls to 117 minutes. A handful of severe-weather days, not everyday faults, set this utility’s year.

The typical outage was repaired in about 2.7 hours.

For comparison, Alabama as a whole averaged 279 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Alabama Power above the state average.

Among the 16 utilities in Alabama with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Alabama Power ranks 15th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 31% of the 926 utilities of that size reported more outage minutes in 2024.

This utility reports with its own method rather than the IEEE standard, so compare its numbers with other utilities loosely.

These are the figures the utility itself reported to the US Energy Information Administration (Form EIA-861, 2024) and describe the whole service territory, not one street. Your own address can be better or worse.

Storm season and outages in Birmingham

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 376 storm reports for Jefferson County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (238), flash flood (57), hail (54), and tornado (18). The busiest full year was 2025 with 69 reports and the quietest was 2016 with 17, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in June (84 since 2015), followed by May and July. October is outside those three months, so an outage now is less likely to be weather-related.

NOAA’s own narratives name power outages in 10 storm episodes in Jefferson County since 2015, most often in May. That count is a floor, since the database records outages only when a spotter or agency mentions them.

What the most common storm types in Birmingham do to the grid:

• Flash flood. Floodwater reaches ground-level transformers, meters and low-lying substations. Utilities may shut power off ahead of the water on purpose, and wading near flooded equipment can electrocute.
• Thunderstorm wind. Straight-line wind pushes trees and limbs into distribution lines. These outages are usually local, a street or a neighborhood at a time, and crews clear them circuit by circuit.
• Hail. Hail rarely cuts power by itself, but it often arrives with the wind and lightning that do, and it breaks solar panels, windshields and exposed utility equipment.

Storm reports that name Birmingham

Within Jefferson County, 46 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Birmingham as their location or in their description: flash flood (22), thunderstorm wind (19), hail (3), and flood (1). That is about 12% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Birmingham are most common in June. The busiest full year was 2025 with 8. These reports record 2 deaths and 2 injuries in total.

Who a power outage hits hardest in Birmingham

54.3% of occupied homes in Birmingham are heated with electricity (US 41.3%). In a winter outage those homes lose heat the moment the power fails, and electric furnaces and heat pumps are too large to run from a portable generator. Warm layers, blankets and a plan for where to stay matter more here than in a gas-heated city.

Residents aged 65 or older are 16.4% of the population in Birmingham, close to the US share of 17.2% and 17.7% report a disability (US 13.3%). These are the households most likely to depend on powered medical equipment such as oxygen concentrators, CPAP machines and refrigerated medicine. If someone in your home does, ask Alabama Power whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 57.7% of the housing in Birmingham was built before 1970 (US 35.5%), and older neighborhoods often have overhead service lines and mature trees close to the wires, which makes them more exposed to storm outages; 54.5% of households rent (US 34.8%), so many residents depend on a landlord to restore building systems and cannot add a generator or battery themselves.

Median household income in Birmingham is $46,051, below the Alabama figure of $63,999. For many households, replacing a freezer of spoiled food or paying for a hotel during a long outage is a real hardship; dialing 211 connects to local shelters, warming or cooling centers and utility assistance programs.

Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 (housing, heating fuel, age and disability tables).

Backup power and electricity use in Birmingham

The average Alabama Power home used about 1,129 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 1.5 kW around the clock, and paid about 16.8 cents per kWh (15.2 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $189 a month.

Keeping only the essentials on (a refrigerator, router, a few lights and phone chargers, about 400 watts) through an outage that lasts the average about 2.7 hours takes about 1.1 kWh. A portable power station or a power bank covers that; a generator is more than most households here need for a typical outage.

A generator must never run indoors, in a garage or near a window; generator and food-safety rules are in the power outage guide linked below.

If the power is out in Birmingham

About 212,237 people live in Birmingham, the 2nd largest of the 4 Alabama cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Alabama Power’s outage map for an estimate. If neighbors have power and you do not, report it again: the fault may be on the line to your house alone, which is a separate repair.

Birmingham power outage map

Alabama Power’s outage map has the official restoration estimate for your address; the count above comes from residents. Food and generator safety: power outage guide.

Birmingham power outage questions