Michigan: One of the Least Reliable Power Grids in the Nation

If you've ever thought that Michigan seems to have an inordinately high number of power outages, you're not wrong. Michigan has one of the least reliable power grid systems in the entire United States.

Michigan - Second Only to Texas

According to the nonprofit research and communications group Climate Central, Michigan has had more major power outages in the last two decades than any other state, except for Texas.

Key takeaways from the research:

• Texas has reported 210 major power outages between 2000 and 2023. Michigan reported 157 major power outages during the same time period.
• Southern states like Alabama and Georgia attribute nearly 99% of their major power outages to severe weather incidents. In Michigan, only about 90% of our major outages can be tied to severe weather incidents.
• Long-term outages, often affecting socially and medically vulnerable populations, occur most often in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Michigan.

Climate Change Leads to More Weather-Related Outages

Kaitlyn Trudeau is a data analyst with Climate Central. The nonprofit says that in addition to thunderstorms, weather events like hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires caused by droughts have led to a decade-over-decade increase in the number of weather-related power outages.

"The system we have right now was not built in a time and climate we're experiencing now," Trudeau says. "It is not prepared for the climate that we have now, and the climate we're going to see in the future."

States With the Highest Number of Outages

According to Axios Detroit, the states with the highest number of significant power outages are Texas, Michigan, California, North Carolina, and Ohio.