Charlotte, North Carolina Power Outage Today

How reliable is Duke Energy service in Charlotte?

Duke Energy is an investor-owned utility with 2,211,457 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 1.96 interruptions and 1,626 minutes (about 27 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 13.9 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 168 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 Duke Energy customers, they stayed out for about 13.9 hours on average, which is long enough to spoil refrigerated food and strain medical needs.

For comparison, North Carolina as a whole averaged 1,441 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That is close to the state average.

Among the 44 utilities in North Carolina with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Duke Energy ranks 40th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 6% 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 Charlotte

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 216 storm reports for Mecklenburg County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (126), hail (40), flash flood (24), and flood (14). The busiest full year was 2020 with 32 reports and the quietest was 2021 with 6, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in July (43 since 2015), followed by June and August. 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 6 storm episodes in Mecklenburg 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 Charlotte 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 Charlotte

Within Mecklenburg County, 93 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Charlotte as their location or in their description: thunderstorm wind (49), flash flood (19), flood (11), and hail (8). That is about 43% of the county’s reports, so Charlotte accounts for much of the county’s storm history. Reports naming Charlotte are most common in July. The busiest full year was 2020 with 14. These reports record 1 death and 3 injuries in total.

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

• March 16, 2026 (thunderstorm wind): “Several sources reported multiple trees and some power lines blown down near Uptown Charlotte.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database
• May 3, 2025 (thunderstorm wind): “Utility company reported a couple of trees blown down on power lines in southwest Charlotte.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database
• August 27, 2023 (thunderstorm wind): “Utility company reported trees blown down on power lines near Uptown Charlotte.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database

Who a power outage hits hardest in Charlotte

54.3% of occupied homes in Charlotte 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 11% of the population in Charlotte, below the US share of 17.2% and 9.1% 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 Duke Energy whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 18.2% of the housing in Charlotte was built before 1970 (US 35.5%); 18.2% 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; 49% 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 Charlotte

The average Duke Energy home used about 984 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 1.3 kW around the clock, and paid about 13.9 cents per kWh (14.1 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $137 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 13.9 hours takes about 5.5 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 Charlotte

About 885,708 people live in Charlotte, the largest of the 10 North Carolina cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Duke 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.

Charlotte power outage map

Duke 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.

Charlotte power outage questions