Columbus, Ohio Power Outage Today

How reliable is AEP Ohio service in Columbus?

AEP Ohio is an investor-owned utility with 1,535,393 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 1.13 interruptions and 272 minutes (about 4.5 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 4 hours.

Major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately, made up about 42% of that time. Without them the average is 158 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 AEP Ohio customers, they stayed out for about 4 hours on average, which is long enough to spoil refrigerated food and strain medical needs.

For comparison, Ohio as a whole averaged 510 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts AEP Ohio below the state average, which is better.

Among the 30 utilities in Ohio with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, AEP Ohio ranks 21st for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 38% 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 Columbus

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 385 storm reports for Franklin County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (185), hail (94), flood (64), and flash flood (31). The busiest full year was 2020 with 56 reports and the quietest was 2021 with 14, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in July (98 since 2015), followed by June and April. 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 Franklin 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 Columbus 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.
• 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 Columbus

Within Franklin County, 63 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Columbus as their location or in their description: thunderstorm wind (31), flood (15), flash flood (7), and hail (6). That is about 16% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Columbus are most common in May. The busiest full year was 2020 with 13.

Who a power outage hits hardest in Columbus

63.9% of occupied homes in Columbus are heated with piped natural gas, and 34.1% 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 11.3% of the population in Columbus, below 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 AEP Ohio whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 35.8% of the housing in Columbus was built before 1970 (US 35.5%); 55.9% 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 Columbus

The average AEP Ohio home used about 898 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 1.2 kW around the clock, and paid about 19.3 cents per kWh (16.5 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $174 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 hours takes about 1.6 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 Columbus

About 905,748 people live in Columbus, the largest of the 10 Ohio cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check AEP Ohio’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.

Columbus power outage map

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

Columbus power outage questions