Cape Coral, Florida Power Outage Today

How reliable is Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) service in Cape Coral?

Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) is a member-owned cooperative utility with 257,631 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 2.39 interruptions and 1,711 minutes (about 29 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 12 hours.

About 96% of that time came on major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately. On ordinary days the average falls to 70 minutes. A handful of severe-weather days, not everyday faults, set this utility’s year.

The long average outage is the notable figure: when the lights went out for Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) customers, they stayed out for about 12 hours on average, which is long enough to spoil refrigerated food and strain medical needs.

For comparison, Florida as a whole averaged 1,322 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) above the state average.

Among the 34 utilities in Florida with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) ranks 25th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 6% 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 Cape Coral

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 126 storm reports for Lee County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (38), flood (24), tornado (21), and hail (17). The busiest full year was 2022 with 19 reports and the quietest was 2018 with 2, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in June (25 since 2015), followed by July and May. 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 5 storm episodes in Lee County since 2015, most often in August. 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 Cape Coral 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.
• Tornado. A tornado destroys poles and lines along its path. Repairs there mean rebuilding rather than reconnecting, so restoration takes days instead of hours.
• 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 Cape Coral

Within Lee County, 19 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Cape Coral as their location or in their description: flood (8), tornado (5), hail (4), and thunderstorm wind (2). That is about 15% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Cape Coral are most common in June. The busiest full year was 2022 with 7. These reports record 3 injuries in total.

In NOAA’s own words, storms that left Cape Coral without power:

• May 12, 2015 (thunderstorm wind): “The Cape Coral Police Department reported several downed trees and power lines in Cape Coral and just south of the city.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database

Who a power outage hits hardest in Cape Coral

94.4% of occupied homes in Cape Coral 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 25% of the population in Cape Coral, above the US share of 17.2% and 14.4% 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 Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 4.9% of the housing in Cape Coral 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 Cape Coral

The average Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) home used about 1,177 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 1.6 kW around the clock, and paid about 13.5 cents per kWh (14.1 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $159 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 12 hours takes about 4.8 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 Cape Coral

About 194,016 people live in Cape Coral, the 9th largest of the 20 Florida cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC)’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.

Cape Coral power outage map

Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC)’s outage map has the official restoration estimate for your address; the count above comes from residents. Food and generator safety: power outage guide.

Cape Coral power outage questions