Laredo, Texas Power Outage Today

How reliable is AEP Texas service in Laredo?

AEP Texas is an investor-owned utility with 913,164 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 1.63 interruptions and 228 minutes (about 3.8 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 2.3 hours.

Major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately, made up about 35% of that time. Without them the average is 150 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 2.3 hours.

For comparison, Texas as a whole averaged 1,271 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts AEP Texas 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, AEP Texas ranks 38th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 44% 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 Laredo

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 145 storm reports for Webb County from 2015 through 2026, most often hail (49), flash flood (42), thunderstorm wind (31), and heavy rain (17). The busiest full year was 2017 with 27 reports and the quietest was 2019 with 2, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in May (63 since 2015), followed by September 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 7 storm episodes in Webb 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 Laredo do to the grid:

• 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.
• 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.

Storm reports that name Laredo

Within Webb County, 117 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Laredo as their location or in their description: flash flood (38), hail (32), thunderstorm wind (28), and heavy rain (15). That is about 81% of the county’s reports, so Laredo accounts for much of the county’s storm history. Reports naming Laredo are most common in May. The busiest full year was 2017 with 25. These reports record 1 death in total.

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

• May 21, 2017 (thunderstorm wind): “Spotters reported street signs, brick fence posts, and power lines blown down across the northern part of Laredo.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database

Who a power outage hits hardest in Laredo

84.7% of occupied homes in Laredo are heated with electricity (US 41.3%). In a winter outage those homes lose heat the moment the power fails, and electric furnaces and heat pumps are too large to run from a portable generator. Warm layers, blankets and a plan for where to stay matter more here than in a gas-heated city.

Residents aged 65 or older are 10% of the population in Laredo, below the US share of 17.2% and 13.2% 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 AEP Texas whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 15% of the housing in Laredo was built before 1970 (US 35.5%), so most homes are newer and more of the local lines are likely to be buried or recently replaced.

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

If the power is out in Laredo

About 255,473 people live in Laredo, the 12th largest of the 20 Texas cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check AEP Texas’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.

Laredo power outage map

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

Laredo power outage questions