Joined federal datasets · 2026 research

State Backup-Power Context Matrix

This matrix joins two different backup-power questions: how much sustained outage time the average customer experienced in 2024, and how expensive residential grid electricity has been in 2026. We show both axes separately instead of hiding them inside a subjective resilience score.

U.S. outage benchmark

611.3 minutes

2024 all-event SAIDI for the U.S. total in EIA Table 11.3. States at or above this value are placed on the high-outage side of the matrix.

U.S. residential-rate benchmark

18.16¢/kWh

EIA residential electricity price, year-to-date through June 2026. States at or above this value are placed on the high-rate side.

No composite score

2 independent axes

A state can have severe outage exposure but relatively inexpensive grid charging, or expensive electricity but relatively low annual outage duration.

Reusable research graphic

Outage burden versus electricity price

The chart shows selected states for readability. The downloadable CSV contains all 51 jurisdictions.

Four contexts

What the quadrants reveal

These are benchmark groups, not labels of household risk or battery value. Utility territory and tariff can differ substantially within a state.

3 jurisdictions

High outage / high rate

Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont

10 jurisdictions

High outage / lower rate

Nebraska, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana…

15 jurisdictions

Lower outage / high rate

Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan…

23 jurisdictions

Lower outage / lower rate

Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Delaware…

High outage + high rate

Maine

29.1 outage hours and 29.67¢/kWh.

High outage + lower rate

South Carolina

52.3 outage hours and 16.04¢/kWh.

Lower outage + high rate

Hawaii

5.3 outage hours and 45.95¢/kWh.

51-jurisdiction table

Reliability and electricity price side by side

Sort and filter the same data in the State Outage Reliability Explorer.

State2024 SAIDIHours2024 SAIFI2026 YTD rateMajor-event gapContext
South Carolina3136.5 min52.3 h2.36516.04¢/kWh3018.7 minHigh outage / lower rate
Maine1748.6 min29.1 h3.63629.67¢/kWh1474.6 minHigh outage / high rate
North Carolina1441.0 min24.0 h1.81214.90¢/kWh1299.6 minHigh outage / lower rate
Florida1321.5 min22.0 h1.77015.36¢/kWh1255.1 minHigh outage / lower rate
Texas1270.6 min21.2 h2.11416.11¢/kWh1141.2 minHigh outage / lower rate
Georgia1229.1 min20.5 h2.12215.19¢/kWh1016.8 minHigh outage / lower rate
West Virginia1165.5 min19.4 h2.83215.42¢/kWh679.4 minHigh outage / lower rate
New Hampshire922.7 min15.4 h2.02126.83¢/kWh790.4 minHigh outage / high rate
Louisiana727.5 min12.1 h2.72213.51¢/kWh521.5 minHigh outage / lower rate
Vermont696.7 min11.6 h2.51623.98¢/kWh421.7 minHigh outage / high rate
Kentucky648.3 min10.8 h1.95514.37¢/kWh495.0 minHigh outage / lower rate
Nebraska641.7 min10.7 h1.23212.70¢/kWh568.1 minHigh outage / lower rate
Washington623.5 min10.4 h1.75214.35¢/kWh464.9 minHigh outage / lower rate
Oregon591.0 min9.8 h1.34615.31¢/kWh460.1 minLower outage / lower rate
Mississippi567.1 min9.5 h2.55515.35¢/kWh300.8 minLower outage / lower rate
Ohio510.5 min8.5 h1.29818.53¢/kWh377.3 minLower outage / high rate
Arkansas509.1 min8.5 h2.12813.43¢/kWh314.5 minLower outage / lower rate
Michigan470.4 min7.8 h1.35621.14¢/kWh310.3 minLower outage / high rate
Virginia418.3 min7.0 h1.62716.69¢/kWh251.9 minLower outage / lower rate
Montana351.5 min5.9 h1.62113.77¢/kWh194.9 minLower outage / lower rate
Pennsylvania336.1 min5.6 h1.35320.90¢/kWh205.1 minLower outage / high rate
Alaska327.1 min5.5 h2.59126.86¢/kWh134.7 minLower outage / high rate
Hawaii320.6 min5.3 h2.61645.95¢/kWh95.0 minLower outage / high rate
Indiana312.4 min5.2 h1.28317.11¢/kWh191.0 minLower outage / lower rate
Kansas285.6 min4.8 h1.50615.19¢/kWh182.0 minLower outage / lower rate
California279.6 min4.7 h1.34533.17¢/kWh121.4 minLower outage / high rate
Alabama279.4 min4.7 h1.87016.58¢/kWh161.6 minLower outage / lower rate
New Mexico278.8 min4.6 h1.32114.82¢/kWh122.3 minLower outage / lower rate
Tennessee278.6 min4.6 h2.00013.90¢/kWh119.1 minLower outage / lower rate
Oklahoma270.9 min4.5 h1.73113.37¢/kWh151.3 minLower outage / lower rate
Wisconsin266.1 min4.4 h1.02018.99¢/kWh174.8 minLower outage / high rate
Colorado255.1 min4.3 h1.40916.65¢/kWh136.1 minLower outage / lower rate
Idaho232.8 min3.9 h1.31412.80¢/kWh58.8 minLower outage / lower rate
Missouri224.3 min3.7 h1.18913.45¢/kWh118.3 minLower outage / lower rate
New York219.9 min3.7 h0.91029.26¢/kWh147.9 minLower outage / high rate
Minnesota219.6 min3.7 h1.25015.98¢/kWh127.4 minLower outage / lower rate
New Jersey174.2 min2.9 h1.11923.65¢/kWh74.5 minLower outage / high rate
Iowa166.7 min2.8 h1.15013.77¢/kWh76.9 minLower outage / lower rate
Nevada158.9 min2.6 h1.10813.79¢/kWh95.1 minLower outage / lower rate
Illinois156.9 min2.6 h0.85219.22¢/kWh97.5 minLower outage / high rate
Connecticut153.6 min2.6 h0.87628.82¢/kWh80.5 minLower outage / high rate
Wyoming137.8 min2.3 h0.99913.88¢/kWh28.7 minLower outage / lower rate
Utah119.8 min2.0 h1.03013.17¢/kWh13.1 minLower outage / lower rate
Maryland118.1 min2.0 h0.81721.27¢/kWh43.0 minLower outage / high rate
Delaware116.1 min1.9 h0.84317.74¢/kWh50.2 minLower outage / lower rate
Rhode Island104.3 min1.7 h0.89629.45¢/kWh43.5 minLower outage / high rate
Massachusetts102.0 min1.7 h0.84330.06¢/kWh25.9 minLower outage / high rate
North Dakota99.1 min1.7 h0.91512.19¢/kWh14.9 minLower outage / lower rate
Arizona87.5 min1.5 h0.98815.45¢/kWh15.5 minLower outage / lower rate
South Dakota84.7 min1.4 h0.81514.33¢/kWh22.6 minLower outage / lower rate
District of Columbia32.6 min0.5 h0.27124.54¢/kWh6.2 minLower outage / high rate
Methodology

Two EIA tables, one context view

The outage axis uses 2024 all-event SAIDI from EIA Electric Power Annual Table 11.3. The electricity-price axis uses the residential year-to-date average through June 2026 from EIA Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.B.

We compare each state with the corresponding U.S. benchmark: 611.3 minutes of all-event SAIDI and 18.16¢/kWh. The resulting quadrant is descriptive only. No weights are assigned and no overall score is calculated.

Because the two datasets cover different periods, this page should not be read as a causal analysis between outage duration and electricity price.

Context is not a recommendation

High outage duration does not automatically mean a household should buy a larger battery. Actual backup sizing comes from critical loads, target outage duration, recharge options, local reliability and budget. State electricity prices also do not equal every customer’s tariff.

Useful next steps

Build a 24/72-hour load plan →

Calculate charging cost with your tariff →

Sources: EIA Table 11.3 and EIA Table 5.6.B.