Roanoke, Virginia Power Outage Today

How reliable is Appalachian Power service in Roanoke?

Appalachian Power is an investor-owned utility with 550,129 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 2.25 interruptions and 1,714 minutes (about 29 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 12.7 hours.

About 80% of that time came on major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately. On ordinary days the average falls to 342 minutes. A handful of severe-weather days, not everyday faults, set this utility’s year.

The long average outage is the notable figure: when the lights went out for Appalachian Power customers, they stayed out for about 12.7 hours on average, which is long enough to spoil refrigerated food and strain medical needs.

For comparison, Virginia as a whole averaged 418 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Appalachian Power above the state average.

Among the 17 utilities in Virginia with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Appalachian Power ranks 16th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 6% 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 Roanoke

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 52 storm reports for Roanoke from 2015 through 2026, most often flood (17), heavy rain (11), flash flood (10), and thunderstorm wind (9). The busiest full year was 2018 with 8 reports and the quietest was 2017 with 1, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in August (13 since 2015), followed by July and May. 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 24 storm episodes in Roanoke 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 Roanoke do to the grid:

• 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.
• Heavy rain. Saturated ground topples shallow-rooted trees onto lines, and standing water slows crews trying to reach the damage.
• 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 Roanoke

Within Roanoke, 46 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Roanoke as their location or in their description: flood (17), heavy rain (10), flash flood (9), and thunderstorm wind (5). That is about 88% of the county’s reports, so Roanoke accounts for much of the county’s storm history. Reports naming Roanoke are most common in August. The busiest full year was 2018 with 7. These reports record 1 death and 1 injury in total.

Who a power outage hits hardest in Roanoke

Home heating in Roanoke is mixed: 47.2% of occupied homes use electricity (US 41.3%) and 46% use piped natural gas. Either way, furnaces and heat pumps need grid power to run, so a winter outage means a cold house for most households.

Residents aged 65 or older are 17.8% of the population in Roanoke, close to the US share of 17.2% and 14.6% 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 Appalachian Power whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 65% of the housing in Roanoke 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; 47.6% 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 Roanoke is $55,378, below the Virginia figure of $93,170. 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 Roanoke

The average Appalachian Power home used about 1,048 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 1.4 kW around the clock, and paid about 17.0 cents per kWh (14.4 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $178 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 12.7 hours takes about 5.1 kWh. A portable power station in the 1 to 3 kWh range covers part of that, and a small inverter generator covers all of it.

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 Roanoke

About 100,011 people live in Roanoke, the 8th largest of the 10 Virginia cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Appalachian 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.

Roanoke power outage map

Appalachian 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.

Roanoke power outage questions