Aurora, Colorado Power Outage Today

How reliable is Xcel Energy service in Aurora?

Xcel Energy is an investor-owned utility with 1,523,795 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 1.68 interruptions and 352 minutes (about 5.9 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 3.5 hours.

Major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately, made up about 55% of that time. Without them the average is 158 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 3.5 hours.

For comparison, Colorado as a whole averaged 255 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Xcel Energy above the state average.

Among the 23 utilities in Colorado with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Xcel Energy ranks 22nd for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 30% 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 Aurora

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 274 storm reports for Arapahoe County from 2015 through 2026, most often hail (190), thunderstorm wind (58), tornado (11), and flash flood (7). The busiest full year was 2023 with 51 reports and the quietest was 2016 with 9, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in June (117 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 21 storm episodes in Arapahoe County since 2015, most often in March. 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 Aurora do to the grid:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Storm reports that name Aurora

Within Arapahoe County, 52 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Aurora as their location or in their description: hail (40), thunderstorm wind (7), flash flood (2), and flood (1). That is about 19% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Aurora are most common in June. The busiest full year was 2023 with 15. These reports record 1 death and 1 injury in total.

Who a power outage hits hardest in Aurora

62.1% of occupied homes in Aurora are heated with piped natural gas, and 34.1% 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 12.4% of the population in Aurora, below the US share of 17.2% and 11.6% 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 Xcel Energy whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 13.6% of the housing in Aurora was built before 1970 (US 35.5%), so most homes are newer and more of the local lines are likely to be buried or recently replaced.

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

Backup power and electricity use in Aurora

The average Xcel Energy home used about 600 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 0.8 kW around the clock, and paid about 15.0 cents per kWh (14.9 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $90 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 3.5 hours takes about 1.4 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 Aurora

About 386,261 people live in Aurora, the 3rd largest of the 5 Colorado cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Xcel Energy’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.

Aurora power outage map

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

Aurora power outage questions