About PlainUtility

PlainUtility makes electric utility reliability data accessible to everyone. We index SAIDI and SAIFI reliability metrics for 900+ US electric utilities, drawn directly from the U.S. Energy Information Administration's annual Form 861 survey. Whether you're a homeowner researching a potential move, a renter evaluating neighborhoods, or a policy analyst tracking grid performance, PlainUtility gives you the data in a searchable, comparable format.

Our Data

All reliability data comes directly from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) - specifically the annual Form 861 (Annual Electric Power Industry Report). This survey collects reliability metrics from investor-owned utilities, municipal utilities, electric cooperatives, and other electricity providers across the United States.

Current coverage includes:

• SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index): Total minutes per year the average customer is without power. We show 4-year trends (2020–2023), both with and without major event days (nMED).
• SAIFI (System Average Interruption Frequency Index): Number of times per year the average customer experiences a power interruption. 4-year trends (2020–2023).
• Utility coverage: 900+ utilities with reliability data, representing investor-owned utilities, municipal utilities, and electric cooperatives across all 50 states and DC.
• ZIP code mapping: Service territory data from OpenEI (Department of Energy's Open Energy Information platform) mapping ZIP codes to their serving utilities.
• State averages: Aggregated reliability statistics for all 51 state/territory entries, enabling regional comparisons.

Methodology

We download EIA Form 861 Reliability data files directly from eia.gov and process them as follows. No data is modified, interpolated, or editorialized. Dot placeholders (representing utilities that did not report a metric) are treated as NULL rather than zero to avoid distorting averages.

ZIP-to-utility mappings come from OpenEI's Utility Rate Database (URDB) service territory files, which are updated periodically as utilities update their service territories. Note that some ZIP codes may be served by multiple utilities, and service territory boundaries can change.

We report SAIDI both with major event days (the full customer experience including storm and catastrophic outages) and without major event days (nMED, which reflects day-to-day infrastructure reliability). Both metrics are published by utilities to the EIA.

Our Mission

We believe every electricity customer deserves easy access to reliability data about their utility provider. Whether you are a homeowner researching a potential move, a renter evaluating neighborhoods, a business owner assessing operational risk, or a policy analyst tracking grid performance, you should be able to answer the question "how reliable is my power?" without filing FOIA requests or navigating raw government spreadsheets.

The EIA collects this data at public expense from utilities across the country. PlainUtility exists to make it genuinely accessible, searchable, comparable, and presented in context that helps real people make real decisions.

Data Currency

PlainUtility currently displays data from the EIA Form 861, 2020–2023 releases. This reflects utility reliability performance for the survey years 2020 through 2023. The EIA publishes updated Form 861 data annually, typically 12–18 months after the survey year. We update our database within 30 days of each new release.

Like all federal statistical programs, there is a lag between the reporting period and public release. ZIP-to-utility service territory mappings from OpenEI are updated periodically as utilities adjust their coverage areas. Some mappings may not reflect very recent utility mergers, acquisitions, or service territory changes.

Not Affiliated

PlainUtility is not affiliated with the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the Department of Energy, or any electric utility. We are an independent data portal that presents public government data in a more accessible format. Utility names, service territory data, and reliability metrics are reproduced from official EIA and OpenEI sources.

How We Process the Data

We download EIA Form 861 reliability data files and process them as follows. SAIDI and SAIFI values are preserved exactly as reported by utilities. Dot placeholders in the source data, indicating utilities that did not report a metric, are treated as NULL rather than zero to avoid distorting averages.

ZIP-to-utility mappings come from OpenEI's service territory files, which are updated periodically as utilities adjust their coverage areas. We report reliability both with and without major event days (nMED), giving users distinct views of catastrophic outage impact versus day-to-day infrastructure performance.

Editorial Independence

Content on PlainUtility is compiled by our editorial process. Raw data from HUD, Census, BLS, and related housing/demographic agencies is transformed into readable profiles by our continuous editorial pipeline, validated against the source before publication. The PlainUtility, is responsible for editorial standards, methodology, and corrections.

We do not accept payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from landlords, cities, governments, or any covered entity. Our only revenue source is contextual display advertising served by Google AdSense, advertisers do not influence which entities we cover or how we present data, and they do not receive preferential placement.

Disclaimer

This site is for informational purposes only. Reliability data comes from utility self-reports filed with the EIA and may contain errors or omissions. Not all utilities report every metric every year. Always verify critical information with your utility directly or through official EIA sources before making decisions.

Contact

For questions or feedback, email hello@plainutility.com.