Buffalo, New York Power Outage Today

How reliable is National Grid service in Buffalo?

National Grid is an investor-owned utility with 1,690,739 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 1.69 interruptions and 510 minutes (about 8.5 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 5 hours.

About 72% of that time came on major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately. On ordinary days the average falls to 141 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 National Grid customers, they stayed out for about 5 hours on average, which is long enough to spoil refrigerated food and strain medical needs.

For comparison, New York as a whole averaged 220 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts National Grid above the state average.

Among the 11 utilities in New York with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, National Grid ranks 10th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 21% 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 Buffalo

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 303 storm reports for Erie County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (179), flash flood (38), hail (35), and flood (23). The busiest full year was 2020 with 55 reports and the quietest was 2022 with 7, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in July (82 since 2015), 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 16 storm episodes in Erie 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 Buffalo 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 Buffalo

Within Erie County, 48 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Buffalo as their location or in their description: thunderstorm wind (22), flash flood (13), hail (7), and flood (3). That is about 16% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Buffalo are most common in August. The busiest full year was 2020 with 16.

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

• May 16, 2025 (thunderstorm wind): “Downed power lines on Lakewood Avenue in Buffalo.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database

Who a power outage hits hardest in Buffalo

85.9% of occupied homes in Buffalo are heated with piped natural gas, and 9.9% 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 14.2% of the population in Buffalo, below the US share of 17.2% and 16.3% 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 National Grid whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 85.4% of the housing in Buffalo 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; 57% 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 Buffalo is $50,041, below the New York figure of $85,974. 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 Buffalo

The average National Grid home used about 637 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 0.9 kW around the clock, and paid about 17.2 cents per kWh (23.8 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $110 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 Buffalo

About 255,284 people live in Buffalo, the 2nd largest of the 10 New York cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check National Grid’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.

Buffalo power outage map

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

Buffalo power outage questions