Lincoln, Nebraska Power Outage Today

How reliable is Lincoln Electric System (LES) service in Lincoln?

Lincoln Electric System (LES) is a city-owned utility with 151,839 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 0.7 interruptions and 187 minutes (about 3.1 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 4.5 hours.

About 90% of that time came on major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately. On ordinary days the average falls to 19 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 Lincoln Electric System (LES) customers, they stayed out for about 4.5 hours on average, which is long enough to spoil refrigerated food and strain medical needs.

For comparison, Nebraska as a whole averaged 642 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Lincoln Electric System (LES) below the state average, which is better.

Among the 15 utilities in Nebraska with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Lincoln Electric System (LES) ranks 11th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 50% 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 Lincoln

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 400 storm reports for Lancaster County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (172), hail (171), flash flood (24), and tornado (14). The busiest full year was 2020 with 63 reports and the quietest was 2021 with 11, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in June (126 since 2015), followed by May 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 16 storm episodes in Lancaster County since 2015, most often in January. 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 Lincoln 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 Lincoln

Within Lancaster County, 124 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Lincoln as their location or in their description: thunderstorm wind (61), hail (47), flash flood (8), and flood (3). That is about 31% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Lincoln are most common in June. The busiest full year was 2020 with 15. These reports record 8 injuries in total.

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

• July 9, 2020 (thunderstorm wind): “Emergency management reported significant number of power outages in Lincoln due to downed power lines.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database
• June 16, 2017 (thunderstorm wind): “There were numerous reports of trees and power lines blown down in Lincoln.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database

Who a power outage hits hardest in Lincoln

63.6% of occupied homes in Lincoln are heated with piped natural gas, and 34.6% 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 14.8% of the population in Lincoln, close to the US share of 17.2% and 12.7% 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 Lincoln Electric System (LES) whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 33.9% of the housing in Lincoln was built before 1970 (US 35.5%).

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

Backup power and electricity use in Lincoln

The average Lincoln Electric System (LES) home used about 808 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 1.1 kW around the clock, and paid about 10.9 cents per kWh (11.5 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $88 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 4.5 hours takes about 1.8 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 Lincoln

About 291,082 people live in Lincoln, the 2nd largest of the 4 Nebraska cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Lincoln Electric System (LES)’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.

Lincoln power outage map

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

Lincoln power outage questions