Bakersfield, California Power Outage Today

How reliable is Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) service in Bakersfield?

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is an investor-owned utility with 5,795,693 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 2.15 interruptions and 509 minutes (about 8.5 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 3.9 hours.

Major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately, made up about 46% of that time. Without them the average is 276 minutes, so weather matters here but ordinary equipment faults and tree contact account for most of the total.

The typical outage was repaired in about 3.9 hours.

For comparison, California as a whole averaged 280 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) above the state average.

Among the 24 utilities in California with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) ranks 22nd for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 21% of the 926 utilities of that size reported more outage minutes in 2024.

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 Bakersfield

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 474 storm reports for Kern County from 2015 through 2026, most often flood (267), flash flood (69), debris flow (51), and heavy rain (48). The busiest full year was 2023 with 116 reports and the quietest was 2021 with 13, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in January (99 since 2015), followed by March and February. 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 6 storm episodes in Kern 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 Bakersfield do to the grid:

• 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.
• Heavy rain. Saturated ground topples shallow-rooted trees onto lines, and standing water slows crews trying to reach the damage.
• 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.

Storm reports that name Bakersfield

Within Kern County, 51 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Bakersfield as their location or in their description: flood (29), heavy rain (5), thunderstorm wind (5), and debris flow (4). That is about 11% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Bakersfield are most common in January. The busiest full year was 2017 with 13. These reports record 1 death and 1 injury in total.

Who a power outage hits hardest in Bakersfield

59.5% of occupied homes in Bakersfield are heated with piped natural gas, and 34.2% with electricity (US 41.3% electric). A gas furnace still needs electricity for its blower and ignition, so a long winter outage leaves these homes cold too, though a gas supply stays on when the grid fails. Never heat a home with an oven, grill or camp stove indoors.

Residents aged 65 or older are 11.3% of the population in Bakersfield, below the US share of 17.2% and 11.7% 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 Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 20.2% of the housing in Bakersfield was built before 1970 (US 35.5%).

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

Backup power and electricity use in Bakersfield

The average Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) home used about 500 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 0.7 kW around the clock, and paid about 39.6 cents per kWh (29.0 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $198 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 3.9 hours takes about 1.6 kWh. A portable power station in the 1 to 3 kWh range covers part of that, and a small inverter generator covers all of it.

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 Bakersfield

About 384,145 people live in Bakersfield, the 9th largest of the 20 California cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&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.

Bakersfield power outage map

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&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.

Bakersfield power outage questions