Amarillo, Texas Power Outage Today

How reliable is Xcel Energy service in Amarillo?

Xcel Energy is an investor-owned utility with 268,277 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 1.19 interruptions and 197 minutes (about 3.3 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 2.8 hours.

Major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately, made up about 41% of that time. Without them the average is 116 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 2.8 hours.

For comparison, Texas as a whole averaged 1,271 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Xcel Energy below the state average, which is better.

Among the 70 utilities in Texas with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Xcel Energy ranks 33rd for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 49% 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 Amarillo

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 407 storm reports for Potter County from 2015 through 2026, most often hail (207), thunderstorm wind (139), flash flood (28), and flood (23). The busiest full year was 2019 with 67 reports and the quietest was 2024 with 18, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in May (118 since 2015), followed by June and August. 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 12 storm episodes in Potter 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 Amarillo do to the grid:

• 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.
• 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.

Storm reports that name Amarillo

Within Potter County, 284 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Amarillo as their location or in their description: hail (131), thunderstorm wind (105), flash flood (21), and flood (19). That is about 70% of the county’s reports, so Amarillo accounts for much of the county’s storm history. Reports naming Amarillo are most common in June. The busiest full year was 2020 with 38. These reports record 1 injury in total.

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

• August 29, 2020 (thunderstorm wind): “Downed power lines and fence blown over at loop 335 and Amarillo BLVD in northeast Amarillo.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database

Who a power outage hits hardest in Amarillo

62.7% of occupied homes in Amarillo are heated with piped natural gas, and 35.5% 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 15.1% of the population in Amarillo, close to the US share of 17.2% and 13.9% 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 Xcel Energy whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 45.6% of the housing in Amarillo 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 Amarillo

The average Xcel Energy home used about 957 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 1.3 kW around the clock, and paid about 13.4 cents per kWh (14.9 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $128 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 2.8 hours takes about 1.1 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 Amarillo

About 200,393 people live in Amarillo, the 14th largest of the 20 Texas cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Xcel 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.

Amarillo power outage map

Xcel 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.

Amarillo power outage questions