Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Power Outage Today

How reliable is Duquesne Light service in Pittsburgh?

Duquesne Light is an investor-owned utility with 613,818 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 0.99 interruptions and 188 minutes (about 3.1 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 3.2 hours.

Major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately, made up about 32% of that time. Without them the average is 127 minutes, so weather matters here but ordinary equipment faults and tree contact account for most of the total.

Outages are infrequent, fewer than one per customer a year, and each was fixed in about 3.2 hours on average.

For comparison, Pennsylvania as a whole averaged 336 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Duquesne Light below the state average, which is better.

Among the 9 utilities in Pennsylvania with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Duquesne Light ranks 4th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 50% of the 926 utilities of that size reported more outage minutes in 2024.

This utility reports with its own method rather than the IEEE standard, so compare its numbers with other utilities loosely.

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 Pittsburgh

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 1,226 storm reports for Allegheny County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (651), flash flood (322), hail (158), and flood (51). The busiest full year was 2025 with 185 reports and the quietest was 2016 with 48, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in June (330 since 2015), followed by April and July. 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 13 storm episodes in Allegheny 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 Pittsburgh 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.
• Tornado. A tornado destroys poles and lines along its path. Repairs there mean rebuilding rather than reconnecting, so restoration takes days instead of hours.

Storm reports that name Pittsburgh

Within Allegheny County, 36 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Pittsburgh as their location or in their description: thunderstorm wind (21), flash flood (9), tornado (5), and hail (1). That is about 3% of the county’s reports, so most of the county’s weather history happened elsewhere. Reports naming Pittsburgh are most common in June. The busiest full year was 2024 with 5. These reports record 1 death and 4 injuries in total.

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

• March 7, 2022 (thunderstorm wind): “Numerous trees and power lines were reported down across the city of Pittsburgh.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database

Who a power outage hits hardest in Pittsburgh

75.2% of occupied homes in Pittsburgh are heated with piped natural gas, and 21% 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 15.6% of the population in Pittsburgh, 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 Duquesne Light whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 76.3% of the housing in Pittsburgh 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; 17.3% 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; 52.3% 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 Pittsburgh

The average Duquesne Light home used about 605 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 0.8 kW around the clock, and paid about 21.7 cents per kWh (17.2 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $132 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 3.2 hours takes about 1.3 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 Pittsburgh

About 302,971 people live in Pittsburgh, the 2nd largest of the 10 Pennsylvania cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Duquesne Light’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.

Pittsburgh power outage map

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

Pittsburgh power outage questions