Eau Claire, Wisconsin Power Outage Today

How reliable is Xcel Energy service in Eau Claire?

Xcel Energy is an investor-owned utility with 260,234 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 1.13 interruptions and 209 minutes (about 3.5 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 3.1 hours.

Major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately, made up about 41% of that time. Without them the average is 122 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 3.1 hours.

For comparison, Wisconsin as a whole averaged 266 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Xcel Energy below the state average, which is better.

Among the 31 utilities in Wisconsin with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Xcel Energy ranks 25th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 47% 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 Eau Claire

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 92 storm reports for Eau Claire County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (36), hail (33), flash flood (8), and tornado (7). The busiest full year was 2021 with 18 reports and the quietest was 2023 with 1, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in June (27 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 2 storm episodes in Eau Claire County since 2015. 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 Eau Claire 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 Eau Claire

Within Eau Claire County, 39 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Eau Claire as their location or in their description: thunderstorm wind (17), hail (11), flash flood (4), and heavy rain (2). That is about 42% of the county’s reports, so Eau Claire accounts for much of the county’s storm history. Reports naming Eau Claire are most common in August. The busiest full year was 2018 with 6. These reports record 2 injuries in total.

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

• July 12, 2015 (thunderstorm wind): “Power lines were blown down in Eau Claire.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database

Who a power outage hits hardest in Eau Claire

62.9% of occupied homes in Eau Claire are heated with piped natural gas, and 31.2% 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 16.3% of the population in Eau Claire, close to the US share of 17.2% and 13.3% 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 Xcel Energy whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 41.6% of the housing in Eau Claire was built before 1970 (US 35.5%); 45.6% 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.

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

Backup power and electricity use in Eau Claire

The average Xcel Energy home used about 691 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 0.9 kW around the clock, and paid about 15.8 cents per kWh (17.2 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $109 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 3.1 hours takes about 1.2 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 Eau Claire

About 69,028 people live in Eau Claire, the 8th largest of the 10 Wisconsin 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.

Eau Claire 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.

Eau Claire power outage questions