Lansing, Michigan Power Outage Today

How reliable is Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL) service in Lansing?

Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL) is a city-owned utility with 97,050 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 0.86 interruptions and 92 minutes (92 minutes) without power, so the average outage lasted 106 minutes.

Little of that came from major storms (about 0%). Without major event days the average is still 92 minutes, so the figure mostly reflects everyday faults: failed equipment, tree limbs, animals and vehicles hitting poles.

Outages are infrequent, fewer than one per customer a year, and each was fixed in 106 minutes on average.

For comparison, Michigan as a whole averaged 470 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL) below the state average, which is better.

Among the 24 utilities in Michigan with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL) ranks 7th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 71% 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 Lansing

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 55 storm reports for Ingham County from 2016 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (33), hail (17), tornado (3), and funnel cloud (1). The busiest full year was 2025 with 12 reports and the quietest was 2017 with 1, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in March (12 since 2016), followed by August and June. 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 14 storm episodes in Ingham County since 2015, most often in February. 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 Lansing 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.
• 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 Lansing

Within Ingham County, 13 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Lansing as their location or in their description: thunderstorm wind (9), hail (3), and flood (1). That is about 24% of the county’s reports. These reports record 2 deaths in total.

Who a power outage hits hardest in Lansing

74.6% of occupied homes in Lansing are heated with piped natural gas, and 21% 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 13.6% of the population in Lansing, below the US share of 17.2% and 16.7% 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 Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL) whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 65.2% of the housing in Lansing was built before 1970 (US 35.5%), and older neighborhoods often have overhead service lines and mature trees close to the wires, which makes them more exposed to storm outages; 46.2% 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.

Median household income in Lansing is $54,382, below the Michigan figure of $72,875. For many households, replacing a freezer of spoiled food or paying for a hotel during a long outage is a real hardship; dialing 211 connects to local shelters, warming or cooling centers and utility assistance programs.

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

Backup power and electricity use in Lansing

The average Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL) home used about 514 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 0.7 kW around the clock, and paid about 19.8 cents per kWh (19.3 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $102 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 106 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 Lansing

About 118,210 people live in Lansing, the 6th largest of the 10 Michigan cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL)’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.

Lansing power outage map

Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL)’s outage map has the official restoration estimate for your address; the count above comes from residents. Food and generator safety: power outage guide.

Lansing power outage questions