Power outages increase in Tennessee

The average Tennessee electricity customer experienced about five hours of power outages in 2021 — up from about 2.9 hours in 2013.

• That's per the latest available data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, an agency within the Department of Energy.

Zoom in: Major weather events tend to drive up outage numbers. For example, average Tennessee customers experienced about 9.8 hours of outages in 2020.

• A deadly series of tornadoes carved a path through the state in March of that year, followed by a derecho that brought destructive wind gusts in May.

Why it matters: Electricity outages stand to become more common as extreme weather events — many driven by climate change — wreak havoc on the country's aging power infrastructure.

• While some are short-lived annoyances, others are widespread events. Either can become deadly for those who depend on medical equipment, or for those who lose heating or air conditioning during periods of extreme temperatures.

The big picture: The average U.S. electricity customer experienced 7.3 hours of power outages in 2021 — down from 8.2 in 2020, but more than double 2013's rate.

• The nationwide average of outage hours has been trending upward over the last several years, beginning with a notable spike in 2017 driven in part by outages following Hurricane Irma. (The hurricane led to outages in parts of Tennessee.)