Privacy Policy

Information We Collect

PlainUtility aims to make electric utility reliability data accessible without any cost to your privacy. We use Umami to measure site engagement — a privacy-oriented analytics tool that sets no browser cookies and does not capture information that could identify individual visitors. Our analytics are limited to combined statistics: which pages are popular, how visitors find us, and what devices they tend to use.

Cookies & Tracking Technologies

PlainUtility does not set first-party cookies. However, third-party services used on this site may set cookies:

  • Google AdSense uses cookies to serve ads based on your visits to this and other websites. Google's DoubleClick cookie enables it and its partners to serve ads based on your browsing patterns.
  • Cloudflare may set security cookies (e.g., __cf_bm) to distinguish humans from bots.
  • Google Analytics (GA4) uses cookies to measure website traffic and usage patterns. Data is processed by Google in accordance with their privacy policy.

Your browser's light/dark theme preference is stored in localStorage, which never leaves your device.

Advertising

We display advertisements through Google AdSense. Google and its advertising partners may use cookies and web beacons to serve ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites. This includes:

  • Google's use of the DoubleClick cookie for ad serving
  • Third-party vendors and ad networks serving ads on this site

You can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings. You can also opt out of third-party vendor cookies at aboutads.info. For a full list of Google's ad technology providers, visit Google's ad technology providers page.

Data Sources

All data displayed on this site comes from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA Form 861) and OpenEI. No private or proprietary data is used. No personally identifiable information from these datasets is stored or displayed.

Editorial Independence

Content on PlainUtility is compiled by our editorial team: raw electric utility reliability data from EIA Form 861 and OpenEI URDB service-territory files is transformed into readable utility and state profiles by our continuous editorial pipeline, validated against the source before publication. The PlainUtility editorial team, operating under Kiznis Studio, is responsible for editorial standards and corrections.

We do not accept payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from electric utilities, state public utility commissions, or any covered entity. Our only revenue source is contextual display advertising served by Google AdSense — advertisers do not influence which utilities we cover or how we present SAIDI/SAIFI data, and they do not receive preferential placement.

Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services:

Your Rights

Under GDPR, CCPA, and similar privacy regulations, you have the right to:

  • Know what data is collected about you
  • Request deletion of your data
  • Opt out of personalized advertising (see Advertising section above)
  • Use browser privacy features or ad blockers to limit tracking

If you are in the European Economic Area (EEA), you may be presented with a consent dialog for personalized advertising in compliance with GDPR. California residents may opt out of the sale of personal information under CCPA.

Children's Privacy

PlainUtility does not knowingly collect information from children under 13.

Changes

We may update this policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated date.

Contact

Questions about this privacy policy can be directed to privacy@plainutility.com.