Stockton, California Power Outage Today

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

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 Stockton

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 66 storm reports for San Joaquin County from 2017 through 2026, most often flood (48), heavy rain (7), funnel cloud (4), and hail (3). The busiest full year was 2023 with 22 reports and the quietest was 2020 with 1, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in January (21 since 2017), followed by February and March. 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 22 storm episodes in San Joaquin 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 Stockton 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.
• 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 Stockton

Within San Joaquin County, 12 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Stockton as their location or in their description: flood (9), heavy rain (1), flash flood (1), and hail (1). That is about 18% of the county’s reports.

Who a power outage hits hardest in Stockton

58.7% of occupied homes in Stockton are heated with piped natural gas, and 35.3% 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 13% of the population in Stockton, below the US share of 17.2% and 14.3% 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: 31.7% of the housing in Stockton was built before 1970 (US 35.5%); 46.1% 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 Stockton

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 Stockton

About 310,496 people live in Stockton, the 13th 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.

Stockton 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.

Stockton power outage questions