IOU · Arkansas · EIA 5860
Empire District Electric Co
IOU · Arkansas · 165K customers. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's EIA Form 861, reliability for 2023 shows SAIDI 303 minutes/customer.
Reliability verdict
Empire District Electric Co shows above-average chronic reliability in 2023: 85 minutes SAIDI excluding major events (303 minutes including them) across 165K customers.
- 303 min
- SAIDI 2023
- 2.61
- SAIFI 2023
- 85 min
- SAIDI ex-MED
- 165K
- Customers
Chronic reliability judged on SAIDI excluding major event days when reported (IEEE 1366). Source: EIA Form 861 · August 2026.
Signature read: long interruption minutes vs the 911 utility cohort (>258 min tercile cut).
What long-outage Empire District Electric Co filings show
Empire District Electric Co is an investor-owned utility operating in Arkansas under EIA identifier 5860. It reports service to approximately 165,360 customer accounts and generated about $0.57 billion in annual electric revenue, with a service footprint spanning 137 ZIP codes. Because it is investor-owned, the state public utility commission oversees its rate cases and reliability performance rather than a local board.
In 2023, the average Empire District Electric Co customer experienced 303.4 minutes of power interruptions, a metric called SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index). Excluding major weather events from that total, that is comfortably under the 120–180 minute national benchmark range, a sign of solid grid resilience and quick outage response. Over the same period, SAIFI (outage events per customer) was 2.61, putting the typical customer at roughly 3 distinct interruptions that year. Excluding major event days (hurricanes, ice storms), SAIDI drops to 85.3 minutes, the gap between that figure and the headline 303.4 reveals how much weather, not day-to-day infrastructure, drove outages.
Empire District Electric Co has 4 years of continuous EIA reporting on file (2020–2023), enough to read a real trend rather than a single-year snapshot. SAIDI climbed from 23.4 to 303.4 minutes over that window, a shift that can point to worsening weather exposure or delayed grid modernization.
Based on this utility's own EIA Form 861 reliability record -- baseline (major-event- excluded) outage duration, total outage duration, and outage frequency -- each benchmarked against every reporting utility nationwide. Not a measure of electricity rates or customer service, which this portal does not track.
303 min/year per customer
Annual minutes without electric service (2023)
SAIDI by year (2020-2023)
Minutes per customer-year · EIA Form 861
Year-by-year SAIDI for Empire District Electric Co from the same EIA filings as the table below. Lower is better; major-event years can spike the headline figure.
Empire District Electric Co SAIDI trend
Empire District Electric Co vs the nationwide SAIDI distribution
Where this utility's headline SAIDI sits among every EIA Form 861 utility with a reported figure
303 Around the middle fewer outage minutes than 30% of 911 utilities
Utilities nationwide, banded by latest reported SAIDI (minutes)
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more utilities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. EIA Form 861 reliability filings · August 2026
Price vs. reliability
Where Empire District Electric Co sits on price vs. reliability
Among the 781 U.S. utilities large enough to report both revenue per customer and a recent outage record, Empire District Electric Co charges more per customer than 87% of them, and is more reliable (lower SAIDI) than 33% of them, placing it in the quadrant where it pays more but is LESS reliable, a premium price without a reliability payoff. Revenue per customer and outage minutes are independent figures: paying more does not guarantee fewer outages.
Revenue per customer: $3,453/year · Latest SAIDI: 303.4 minutes/year.
SAIDI 2023 breakdown: 303.4 minutes
Reliability Trend (2020–2023)
| Year | SAIDI (min) | SAIDI nMED | SAIFI | Customers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 23.4 | 23.4 | 0.415 | 5,383 |
| 2021 | 224.2 | 40.8 | 1.284 | 5,557 |
| 2022 | 177.8 | 95.7 | 2.626 | 5,816 |
| 2023 | 303.4 | 85.3 | 2.609 | 6,020 |
SAIDI nMED = SAIDI without major event days. Source: EIA Form 861.
Service Area
Empire District Electric Co serves 137 ZIP codes in Arkansas.
Frequently Asked Questions
How reliable is Empire District Electric Co?
Empire District Electric Co had a SAIDI of 303.4 minutes in 2023 including major weather events, but 85.3 minutes excluding them (the IEEE-standard measure of day-to-day reliability, the gap reflects a major storm that year, not chronic performance). Excluding major weather events, this is below the national average, indicating above-average reliability.
What type of utility is Empire District Electric Co?
Empire District Electric Co is classified as a IOU serving Arkansas.
How many customers does Empire District Electric Co serve?
Empire District Electric Co serves approximately 165,360 customers in Arkansas.
How has Empire District Electric Co's reliability changed over time?
Empire District Electric Co has 4 years of reliability data (2020-2023). This utility's SAIDI has stayed fairly flat over the period. Review the trend table above for year-by-year detail.
Utility Profile
- Type
- IOU
- State
- Arkansas
- Customers
- 165,360
- Annual Revenue
- $0.57B
- EIA ID
- 5860
Explore
Utilities with similar EIA profiles
Two cross-state peer sets for Empire District Electric Co. Same-state SAIDI neighbors stay in Read-with below; these neighborhoods are nearest other-state utilities with at least 10,000 reported customers.
Similar customer count
Nearest utilities by Form 861 customers (165K here), outside Arkansas.
Similar chronic SAIDI
Nearest utilities by latest SAIDI minutes (303.4 here), outside Arkansas, excluding the customer-peer set.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Form 861 annual electric power industry survey · ZIP service territory: OpenEI. Disclaimer: informational only, not professional advice. See full disclaimer · methodology.