Warwick, Rhode Island Power Outage Today

How reliable is Rhode Island Energy service in Warwick?

Rhode Island Energy is an investor-owned utility with 509,231 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 0.9 interruptions and 104 minutes (104 minutes) without power, so the average outage lasted 116 minutes.

Major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately, made up about 42% of that time. Without them the average is 61 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 116 minutes on average.

For comparison, Rhode Island as a whole averaged 104 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That is close to the state average.

Among the 1 utilities in Rhode Island with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Rhode Island Energy ranks 1st for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 68% 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 Warwick

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 65 storm reports for Kent County from 2015 through 2025, most often thunderstorm wind (39), flood (14), hail (5), and flash flood (5). The busiest full year was 2016 with 15 reports and the quietest was 2019 with 2, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in July (18 since 2015), followed by August and June. 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 Kent 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 Warwick 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 Warwick

Within Kent County, 26 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Warwick as their location or in their description: thunderstorm wind (11), flood (7), flash flood (4), and hail (3). That is about 40% of the county’s reports, so Warwick accounts for much of the county’s storm history. Reports naming Warwick are most common in June. The busiest full year was 2024 with 7.

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

• March 17, 2016 (thunderstorm wind): “A tree and power lines were downed on Waterfront Drive in Warwick.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database

Who a power outage hits hardest in Warwick

63.9% of occupied homes in Warwick are heated with piped natural gas, and 11.6% 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 21.6% of the population in Warwick, above the US share of 17.2% and 15.8% 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 Rhode Island Energy whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 62.3% of the housing in Warwick 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.

Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 (housing, heating fuel, age and disability tables).

Backup power and electricity use in Warwick

The average Rhode Island Energy home used about 574 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 0.8 kW around the clock, and paid about 28.3 cents per kWh (28.1 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $162 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 116 minutes 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 Warwick

About 82,672 people live in Warwick, the 2nd largest of the 4 Rhode Island cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Rhode Island Energy’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.

Warwick power outage map

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

Warwick power outage questions