Fort Smith, Arkansas Power Outage Today

How reliable is OG&E service in Fort Smith?

OG&E is an investor-owned utility with 70,565 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 1.91 interruptions and 370 minutes (about 6.2 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 3.2 hours.

About 76% of that time came on major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately. On ordinary days the average falls to 89 minutes. A handful of severe-weather days, not everyday faults, set this utility’s year.

The typical outage was repaired in about 3.2 hours.

For comparison, Arkansas as a whole averaged 509 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts OG&E below the state average, which is better.

Among the 18 utilities in Arkansas with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, OG&E ranks 10th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 28% 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 Fort Smith

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 324 storm reports for Sebastian County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (147), hail (86), flash flood (55), and flood (19). The busiest full year was 2015 with 49 reports and the quietest was 2021 with 9, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in May (93 since 2015), followed by April and June. 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 3 storm episodes in Sebastian County since 2015, most often in January. 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 Fort Smith 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.
• Tornado. A tornado destroys poles and lines along its path. Repairs there mean rebuilding rather than reconnecting, so restoration takes days instead of hours.

Storm reports that name Fort Smith

Within Sebastian County, 41 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Fort Smith as their location or in their description: flash flood (19), thunderstorm wind (17), flood (3), and tornado (2). That is about 13% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Fort Smith are most common in May. The busiest full year was 2015 with 10. These reports record 2 deaths in total.

In NOAA’s own words, storms that left Fort Smith without power:

• August 16, 2024 (thunderstorm wind): “Strong thunderstorm wind blew down trees and power lines onto portions of Free Ferry Road, Country Club Avenue, Kinkead Avenue, and Zero Street in Fort Smith.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database
• July 11, 2020 (thunderstorm wind): “Strong thunderstorm wind blew down trees and power lines in and around Fort Smith.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database
• June 15, 2017 (thunderstorm wind): “Strong thunderstorm wind blew down trees onto power lines in Fort Smith.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database

Who a power outage hits hardest in Fort Smith

51.4% of occupied homes in Fort Smith 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% of the population in Fort Smith, close to the US share of 17.2% and 22.7% 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 OG&E whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 36.3% of the housing in Fort Smith was built before 1970 (US 35.5%); 46.6% 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.

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

Backup power and electricity use in Fort Smith

The average OG&E home used about 1,028 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 1.4 kW around the clock, and paid about 11.5 cents per kWh (12.3 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $118 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 3.2 hours takes about 1.3 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 Fort Smith

About 89,341 people live in Fort Smith, the 3rd largest of the 3 Arkansas cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check OG&E’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.

Fort Smith power outage map

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

Fort Smith power outage questions