May’s outage data has put Houston’s electric reliability back under scrutiny. As reported by KPRC, Whisker Labs ranked Houston first in the country for outages that month, and some nearby neighborhoods saw interruption rates climb to nearly nine times the national average.
What’s happening?
Using Whisker Labs’ figures, KPRC 2 reported that Houston had the highest number of outages among U.S. cities for the month. Whisker Labs CEO Bob Marshall said, “Outages were up sharply in Houston in May after moderating for a few months.”
Some of the worst numbers were reported at the community level. Marshall also said Houston’s outage frequency in April was already 2.8 times the national average, “with some communities being 9 times the national average.” In May, Fulshear residents averaged more than six outages, while Kingwood, Crosby, and parts of Spring also saw notable spikes.
That represents a turn from the earlier maps, when many Houston-area neighborhoods had moved into lower-outage ranges. Yellow, orange, and red zones are now spreading across the region again.
Why does it matter?
When outages happen over and over, the disruption reaches beyond the lights: internet service can fail, remote work can be interrupted, cooling can be affected during intense Texas heat, and families already facing high utility bills take on even more stress…