Jackson, Mississippi Power Outage Today

How reliable is Entergy Mississippi service in Jackson?

Entergy Mississippi is an investor-owned utility with 465,518 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 2.31 interruptions and 692 minutes (about 11.5 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 5 hours.

Major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately, made up about 52% of that time. Without them the average is 332 minutes, so weather matters here but ordinary equipment faults and tree contact account for most of the total.

The long average outage is the notable figure: when the lights went out for Entergy Mississippi customers, they stayed out for about 5 hours on average, which is long enough to spoil refrigerated food and strain medical needs.

For comparison, Mississippi as a whole averaged 567 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Entergy Mississippi above the state average.

Among the 20 utilities in Mississippi with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Entergy Mississippi ranks 15th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 15% 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 Jackson

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 518 storm reports for Hinds County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (299), flash flood (106), hail (51), and tornado (49). The busiest full year was 2022 with 59 reports and the quietest was 2021 with 24, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in April (117 since 2015), followed by March 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 Hinds 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 Jackson 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.
• 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.
• 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 Jackson

Within Hinds County, 144 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Jackson as their location or in their description: thunderstorm wind (62), flash flood (55), hail (16), and tornado (6). That is about 28% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Jackson are most common in April. The busiest full year was 2022 with 26. These reports record 1 injury in total.

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

• May 9, 2024 (thunderstorm wind): “Several trees and power lines were blown down across the city of Jackson.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database
• June 16, 2023 (thunderstorm wind): “High downburst winds from a line of severe thunderstorms caused a swath of widespread damage to trees and power lines across central portions of Hinds County including the Edwards, Clinton, and Jackson areas.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database
• June 12, 2023 (thunderstorm wind): “A few trees and power lines were blown down in Jackson including a large tree that fell down onto power lines at the intersection of North State Street and Northside Drive, and a power line which was blown down at the intersection of Rose Street and Robinson Road.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database

Who a power outage hits hardest in Jackson

51.3% of occupied homes in Jackson 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 15% of the population in Jackson, close to the US share of 17.2% and 15.8% 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 Entergy Mississippi whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 51.3% of the housing in Jackson 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; 51.4% 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 Jackson is $42,071, below the Mississippi figure of $56,447. 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 Jackson

The average Entergy Mississippi home used about 1,188 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 1.6 kW around the clock, and paid about 13.2 cents per kWh (13.4 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $157 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 5 hours takes about 2.0 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 Jackson

About 153,701 people live in Jackson, the largest of the 5 Mississippi cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Entergy Mississippi’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.

Jackson power outage map

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

Jackson power outage questions