Orlando, Florida Power Outage Today

How reliable is power in Orlando?

Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC)

Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) is a city-owned utility with 284,937 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 0.79 interruptions and 55 minutes (55 minutes) without power, so the average outage lasted 69 minutes.

Major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately, made up about 31% of that time. Without them the average is 38 minutes, so weather matters here but ordinary equipment faults and tree contact account for most of the total.

Outages are infrequent, fewer than one per customer a year, and each was fixed in 69 minutes on average.

For comparison, Florida as a whole averaged 1,322 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) below the state average, which is better.

Among the 34 utilities in Florida with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) ranks 7th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 83% 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.

Duke Energy Florida

Duke Energy Florida is an investor-owned utility with 2,016,207 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 2.21 interruptions and 2,500 minutes (about 42 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 18.9 hours.

About 97% of that time came on major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately. On ordinary days the average falls to 84 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 Duke Energy Florida customers, they stayed out for about 18.9 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 Duke Energy Florida above the state average.

Among the 34 utilities in Florida with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Duke Energy Florida ranks 28th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 4% 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 Orlando

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 155 storm reports for Orange County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (68), hail (47), funnel cloud (10), and lightning (8). The busiest full year was 2020 with 22 reports and the quietest was 2015 with 7, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in May (32 since 2015), followed by June 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 4 storm episodes in Orange County since 2015, most often in October. 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 Orlando do to the grid:

• 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.
• 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.
• Lightning. Lightning trips breakers, burns out transformers and can damage electronics connected to the grid; a surge protector on valuable equipment is cheap insurance.

Storm reports that name Orlando

Within Orange County, 60 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Orlando as their location or in their description: thunderstorm wind (30), hail (11), lightning (5), and flood (5). That is about 39% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Orlando are most common in June. The busiest full year was 2016 with 8. These reports record 1 death and 6 injuries in total.

Who a power outage hits hardest in Orlando

91.8% of occupied homes in Orlando 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 11.3% of the population in Orlando, below the US share of 17.2% and 10.3% 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 Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 20.4% of the housing in Orlando was built before 1970 (US 35.5%); 25.1% of homes are in buildings with 20 or more units (US 10.3%), where an outage also stops elevators and water pumps, which matters for upper floors and anyone who cannot use stairs; 60.5% 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 Orlando

The average Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) home used about 984 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 1.3 kW around the clock, and paid about 15.2 cents per kWh (14.1 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $150 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 69 minutes takes less than 1 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 Orlando

About 307,573 people live in Orlando, the 4th largest of the 20 Florida cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC)’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.

Orlando power outage map

Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC)’s outage map has the official restoration estimate for your address; the count above comes from residents. Food and generator safety: power outage guide.

Orlando power outage questions