There's a big gap between Detroit and Miami
Power outages are abigproblem in some of America's largest cities.
One in four households had a power outage within the 12 months before they were interviewed between May and September in 2023by the federal government's American Housing Survey, which surveys the nation every two years.
And 70% of those households said the outage lasted 6 or more hours.
Homeowners experienced power outages more than renters: Around 28% of homeowners had an outage compared to 20% of renters.
Outages were also more common in rural areas, with around 35% of households reporting an outage in rual areas versus 23% in urban areas.
Still, among the nation's 20 biggest metros, an average of 21% of households reported a power outage.
The worst city for power outages was Detroit (45%), followed by San Francisco (36%).
On the other hand, the best city for power outages was Miami (6%), followed by New York (11%).
The ranking suggests that cities with more outages have poorer or aging grid infrastructure.
For instance, the worst city Detroit is inthe state of Michigan which hasone of the least reliable power grids.
But severe weather and electrical overloads during high heat are also big reasons some cities have it worse.
And Americans say the outages can cause mild to serious problems.
The most common difficulty households reported from outages was food spoiling (5%), having to stay somewhere overnight (3%) and missing work (2%).
But less than 1% of households reported that pipes froze, medicine spoiled or water collected in their basement or crawl space.
The outages also present unique difficulties for people with disabilitiesand their caregivers: Around 28% of households with at least one disabled person living there reported a poweroutage.
Photo Credit: Consumer Affairs News Department Images
Posted: 2024-10-03 02:18:46
