Tulsa, Oklahoma Power Outage Today

How reliable is Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) service in Tulsa?

Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) is an investor-owned utility with 579,031 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 1.55 interruptions and 188 minutes (about 3.1 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 2 hours.

Major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately, made up about 38% of that time. Without them the average is 117 minutes, so weather matters here but ordinary equipment faults and tree contact account for most of the total.

The typical outage was repaired in about 2 hours.

For comparison, Oklahoma as a whole averaged 271 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) below the state average, which is better.

Among the 26 utilities in Oklahoma with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) ranks 10th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 50% 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 Tulsa

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 850 storm reports for Tulsa County from 2015 through 2026, most often hail (327), thunderstorm wind (304), flash flood (156), and flood (33). The busiest full year was 2025 with 120 reports and the quietest was 2022 with 25, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in May (315 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 5 storm episodes in Tulsa 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 Tulsa 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Storm reports that name Tulsa

Within Tulsa County, 234 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Tulsa as their location or in their description: thunderstorm wind (100), hail (77), flash flood (34), and tornado (15). That is about 28% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Tulsa are most common in May. The busiest full year was 2025 with 37. These reports record 4 deaths and 70 injuries in total.

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

• April 14, 2026 (tornado): “In Tulsa County, the tornado damaged several homes, uprooted numerous trees, snapped the trunks of some trees, and blew down power lines until it dissipated near Highway 75, north of W 78th Street S.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database
• August 13, 2023 (thunderstorm wind): “Strong thunderstorm wind blew down power lines in southwest Tulsa.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database

Who a power outage hits hardest in Tulsa

57.7% of occupied homes in Tulsa are heated with piped natural gas, and 40.3% 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 15.3% of the population in Tulsa, close to the US share of 17.2% and 15.3% 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 Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 44.9% of the housing in Tulsa was built before 1970 (US 35.5%); 48.1% 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 Tulsa

The average Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) home used about 1,047 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 1.4 kW around the clock, and paid about 12.7 cents per kWh (12.2 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $133 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 2 hours takes less than 1 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 Tulsa

About 413,066 people live in Tulsa, the 2nd largest of the 5 Oklahoma cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO)’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.

Tulsa power outage map

Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO)’s outage map has the official restoration estimate for your address; the count above comes from residents. Food and generator safety: power outage guide.

Tulsa power outage questions