New York City, New York Power Outage Today

How reliable is Con Edison service in New York City?

Con Edison is an investor-owned utility with 3,686,348 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 0.13 interruptions and 28 minutes (28 minutes) without power, so the average outage lasted about 3.6 hours.

Major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately, made up about 46% of that time. Without them the average is 15 minutes, so weather matters here but ordinary equipment faults and tree contact account for most of the total.

Outages are infrequent, fewer than one per customer a year, and each was fixed in about 3.6 hours on average.

For comparison, New York as a whole averaged 220 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Con Edison below the state average, which is better.

Among the 11 utilities in New York with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Con Edison ranks 4th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 91% 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 New York City

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 46 storm reports for New York County from 2017 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (20), flash flood (20), hail (4), and lightning (2). The busiest full year was 2021 with 16 reports and the quietest was 2022 with 1, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in June (10 since 2017), followed by July and May. 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 4 storm episodes in New York 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 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.

Who a power outage hits hardest in New York City

64.4% of occupied homes in New York City are heated with piped natural gas, and 16.8% 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 16.6% of the population in New York City, close to 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 Con Edison whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 71.8% of the housing in New York City 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; 48.9% 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; 67.2% 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.

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

Backup power and electricity use in New York City

The average Con Edison home used about 365 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 0.5 kW around the clock, and paid about 35.7 cents per kWh (23.8 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $130 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 3.6 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 New York City

About 8,336,817 people live in New York City, the 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 Con Edison’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.

New York City power outage map

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

New York City power outage questions