St. Paul, Minnesota Power Outage Today

How reliable is Xcel Energy service in St. Paul?

Xcel Energy is an investor-owned utility with 1,361,168 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 1.47 interruptions and 309 minutes (about 5.2 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 3.5 hours.

About 64% of that time came on major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately. On ordinary days the average falls to 110 minutes. A handful of severe-weather days, not everyday faults, set this utility’s year.

The typical outage was repaired in about 3.5 hours.

For comparison, Minnesota as a whole averaged 220 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Xcel Energy above the state average.

Among the 41 utilities in Minnesota with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Xcel Energy ranks 40th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 34% 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 St. Paul

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 147 storm reports for Ramsey County from 2015 through 2026, most often hail (91), thunderstorm wind (46), flash flood (5), and heavy rain (3). The busiest full year was 2022 with 42 reports and the quietest was 2020 with 1, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in May (36 since 2015), followed by July 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 12 storm episodes in Ramsey 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 St. Paul 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.
• 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 St. Paul

Within Ramsey County, 12 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name St. Paul as their location or in their description: thunderstorm wind (10), hail (1), and flash flood (1). That is about 8% of the county’s reports, so most of the county’s weather history happened elsewhere. These reports record 2 injuries in total.

Who a power outage hits hardest in St. Paul

66.9% of occupied homes in St. Paul are heated with piped natural gas, and 28.5% 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 St. Paul, below the US share of 17.2% and 12.4% 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 Xcel Energy whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 68.4% of the housing in St. Paul 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; 25.3% 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; 47.1% 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 St. Paul

The average Xcel Energy home used about 588 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 0.8 kW around the clock, and paid about 17.0 cents per kWh (15.5 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $100 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 St. Paul

About 311,527 people live in St. Paul, the 2nd largest of the 5 Minnesota 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.

St. Paul 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.

St. Paul power outage questions