Dayton, Ohio Power Outage Today

How reliable is AES Ohio service in Dayton?

AES Ohio is an investor-owned utility with 613,948 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 1.26 interruptions and 503 minutes (about 8.4 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 6.7 hours.

About 79% of that time came on major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately. On ordinary days the average falls to 106 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 AES Ohio customers, they stayed out for about 6.7 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 is close to the state average.

Among the 30 utilities in Ohio with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, AES Ohio ranks 28th 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 Dayton

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 347 storm reports for Montgomery County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (210), hail (65), flood (33), and flash flood (25). The busiest full year was 2015 with 46 reports and the quietest was 2023 with 13, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in June (113 since 2015), followed by July 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 Montgomery County since 2015, most often in March. 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 Dayton 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 Dayton

Within Montgomery County, 51 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Dayton as their location or in their description: thunderstorm wind (34), flash flood (6), hail (4), and heavy rain (2). That is about 15% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Dayton are most common in July. The busiest full year was 2025 with 9. These reports record 1 death and 167 injuries in total.

Who a power outage hits hardest in Dayton

68.3% of occupied homes in Dayton are heated with piped natural gas, and 28.2% 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 14.1% of the population in Dayton, below the US share of 17.2% and 18% 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 AES Ohio whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 75.8% of the housing in Dayton 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; 51.6% 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 Dayton is $45,247, below the Ohio figure of $71,389. 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 Dayton

The average AES Ohio home used about 915 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 1.3 kW around the clock, and paid about 15.3 cents per kWh (16.5 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $140 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 6.7 hours takes about 2.7 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 Dayton

About 140,599 people live in Dayton, the 6th largest of the 10 Ohio cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check AES 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.

Dayton power outage map

AES 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.

Dayton power outage questions