Madison, Wisconsin Power Outage Today

How reliable is Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) service in Madison?

Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) is an investor-owned utility with 166,686 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 0.59 interruptions and 279 minutes (about 4.7 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 7.9 hours.

About 85% of that time came on major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately. On ordinary days the average falls to 42 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 Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) customers, they stayed out for about 7.9 hours on average, which is long enough to spoil refrigerated food and strain medical needs.

For comparison, Wisconsin as a whole averaged 266 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That is close to the state average.

Among the 31 utilities in Wisconsin with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) ranks 29th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 37% 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 Madison

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 477 storm reports for Dane County from 2015 through 2026, most often hail (270), thunderstorm wind (149), flash flood (14), and tornado (14). The busiest full year was 2025 with 70 reports and the quietest was 2015 with 14, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in April (127 since 2015), followed by May and June. 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 Dane 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 Madison 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.
• 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 Madison

Within Dane County, 74 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Madison as their location or in their description: hail (31), thunderstorm wind (17), flash flood (9), and flood (8). That is about 16% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Madison are most common in April. The busiest full year was 2024 with 9. These reports record 1 death in total.

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

• June 2, 2020 (thunderstorm wind): “Scattered trees and power lines down on the north and east sides of Madison.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database
• July 5, 2016 (thunderstorm wind): “Numerous trees and power lines down from the near west side of Madison to the near east side of Madison.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database

Who a power outage hits hardest in Madison

67.4% of occupied homes in Madison are heated with piped natural gas, and 28.8% 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 13% of the population in Madison, below the US share of 17.2% and 9.3% 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 Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 37.8% of the housing in Madison was built before 1970 (US 35.5%); 28.7% 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% 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 Madison

The average Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) home used about 486 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 0.7 kW around the clock, and paid about 20.3 cents per kWh (17.2 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $99 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 7.9 hours takes about 3.1 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 Madison

About 269,840 people live in Madison, the 2nd largest of the 10 Wisconsin cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Madison Gas and Electric (MGE)’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.

Madison power outage map

Madison Gas and Electric (MGE)’s outage map has the official restoration estimate for your address; the count above comes from residents. Food and generator safety: power outage guide.

Madison power outage questions