Janesville, Wisconsin Power Outage Today

How reliable is Alliant Energy service in Janesville?

Alliant Energy is an investor-owned utility with 501,445 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 0.99 interruptions and 154 minutes (about 2.6 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 2.6 hours.

Major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately, made up about 56% of that time. Without them the average is 68 minutes, so weather matters here but ordinary equipment faults and tree contact account for most of the total.

Outages are infrequent, fewer than one per customer a year, and each was fixed in about 2.6 hours on average.

For comparison, Wisconsin as a whole averaged 266 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Alliant 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, Alliant Energy ranks 23rd for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 57% of the 926 utilities of that size reported more outage minutes in 2024.

This utility reports with its own method rather than the IEEE standard, so compare its numbers with other utilities loosely.

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 Janesville

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 226 storm reports for Rock County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (85), hail (69), flood (38), and tornado (15). The busiest full year was 2024 with 41 reports and the quietest was 2021 with 7, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in July (45 since 2015), followed by June 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 20 storm episodes in Rock 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 Janesville 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.
• 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 Janesville

Within Rock County, 75 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Janesville as their location or in their description: hail (26), thunderstorm wind (22), flood (13), and flash flood (6). That is about 33% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Janesville are most common in June. The busiest full year was 2024 with 19.

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

• May 21, 2024 (thunderstorm wind): “Numerous trees and power lines down across Janesville.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database

Who a power outage hits hardest in Janesville

74.8% of occupied homes in Janesville are heated with piped natural gas, and 21.5% 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 18.2% of the population in Janesville, close to the US share of 17.2% and 13% 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 Alliant Energy whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 46.1% of the housing in Janesville 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 Janesville

The average Alliant Energy home used about 673 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 0.9 kW around the clock, and paid about 16.9 cents per kWh (17.2 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $114 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 2.6 hours takes about 1.0 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 Janesville

About 65,599 people live in Janesville, the 10th largest of the 10 Wisconsin cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Alliant 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.

Janesville power outage map

Alliant 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.

Janesville power outage questions