Portland, Oregon Power Outage Today

How reliable is power in Portland?

Portland General Electric (PGE)

Portland General Electric (PGE) is an investor-owned utility with 942,296 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 1.27 interruptions and 772 minutes (about 12.9 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 10.1 hours.

About 83% of that time came on major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately. On ordinary days the average falls to 133 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 Portland General Electric (PGE) customers, they stayed out for about 10.1 hours on average, which is long enough to spoil refrigerated food and strain medical needs.

For comparison, Oregon as a whole averaged 591 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Portland General Electric (PGE) above the state average.

Among the 17 utilities in Oregon with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Portland General Electric (PGE) ranks 14th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 13% of the 926 utilities of that size reported more outage minutes in 2024.

Pacific Power

Pacific Power is an investor-owned utility with 638,000 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 1.41 interruptions and 368 minutes (about 6.1 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 4.4 hours.

About 71% of that time came on major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately. On ordinary days the average falls to 108 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 Pacific Power customers, they stayed out for about 4.4 hours on average, which is long enough to spoil refrigerated food and strain medical needs.

For comparison, Oregon as a whole averaged 591 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Pacific Power below the state average, which is better.

Among the 17 utilities in Oregon with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Pacific Power ranks 10th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 28% 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 Portland

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 33 storm reports for Multnomah County from 2015 through 2025, most often heavy rain (13), debris flow (5), flood (4), and thunderstorm wind (4). The busiest full year was 2015 with 6 reports and the quietest was 2020 with 2, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in December (7 since 2015), followed by October and February. October is one of the three busiest storm months here, so it is a good time to charge backup batteries and check the flashlights.

NOAA’s own narratives name power outages in 2 storm episodes in Multnomah County since 2015. 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 Portland do to the grid:

• Heavy rain. Saturated ground topples shallow-rooted trees onto lines, and standing water slows crews trying to reach the damage.
• 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.

Storm reports that name Portland

Within Multnomah County, 18 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Portland as their location or in their description: heavy rain (9), thunderstorm wind (3), flood (2), and funnel cloud (2). That is about 55% of the county’s reports, so Portland accounts for much of the county’s storm history. Reports naming Portland are most common in October. The busiest full year was 2015 with 6. These reports record 2 deaths and 3 injuries in total.

Who a power outage hits hardest in Portland

Home heating in Portland is mixed: 48.7% of occupied homes use electricity (US 41.3%) and 46.8% use piped natural gas. Either way, furnaces and heat pumps need grid power to run, so a winter outage means a cold house for most households.

Residents aged 65 or older are 14.5% of the population in Portland, close to the US share of 17.2% and 13.8% 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 Portland General Electric (PGE) whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 53.3% of the housing in Portland 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; 23.5% 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; 48% 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 Portland

The average Portland General Electric (PGE) home used about 777 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 1.1 kW around the clock, and paid about 18.2 cents per kWh (14.7 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $141 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 10.1 hours takes about 4.1 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 Portland

About 652,503 people live in Portland, the largest of the 5 Oregon cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Portland General Electric (PGE)’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.

Portland power outage map

Portland General Electric (PGE)’s outage map has the official restoration estimate for your address; the count above comes from residents. Food and generator safety: power outage guide.

Portland power outage questions