Salt Lake City, Utah Power Outage Today

How reliable is Rocky Mountain Power service in Salt Lake City?

Rocky Mountain Power is an investor-owned utility with 1,030,158 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 1.07 interruptions and 118 minutes (118 minutes) without power, so the average outage lasted 110 minutes.

Little of that came from major storms (about 7%). Without major event days the average is still 109 minutes, so the figure mostly reflects everyday faults: failed equipment, tree limbs, animals and vehicles hitting poles.

The typical outage was repaired in 110 minutes.

For comparison, Utah as a whole averaged 120 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That is close to the state average.

Among the 10 utilities in Utah with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Rocky Mountain Power ranks 7th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 65% 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 Salt Lake City

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 227 storm reports for Salt Lake County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (171), hail (34), flash flood (11), and flood (6). The busiest full year was 2023 with 49 reports and the quietest was 2018 with 6, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in August (49 since 2015), followed by May 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 16 storm episodes in Salt Lake 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 Salt Lake City 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.
• 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.
• 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 Salt Lake City

Within Salt Lake County, 55 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Salt Lake City as their location or in their description: thunderstorm wind (41), hail (5), flash flood (4), and flood (3). That is about 24% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Salt Lake City are most common in July. The busiest full year was 2023 with 14. These reports record 2 injuries in total.

Who a power outage hits hardest in Salt Lake City

71.9% of occupied homes in Salt Lake City are heated with piped natural gas, and 24.2% 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 12.5% of the population in Salt Lake City, below the US share of 17.2% and 12.3% 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 Rocky Mountain Power whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 54.1% of the housing in Salt Lake City 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; 30.3% 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; 54.2% 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.

Median household income in Salt Lake City is $75,090, below the Utah figure of $95,166. For many households, replacing a freezer of spoiled food or paying for a hotel during a long outage is a real hardship; dialing 211 connects to local shelters, warming or cooling centers and utility assistance programs.

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

Backup power and electricity use in Salt Lake City

The average Rocky Mountain Power home used about 758 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 1.0 kW around the clock, and paid about 12.5 cents per kWh (12.2 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $95 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 110 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 Salt Lake City

About 200,133 people live in Salt Lake City, the largest of the 5 Utah cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Rocky Mountain Power’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.

Salt Lake City power outage map

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

Salt Lake City power outage questions