Orcas Power & Light Coop

What This Utility Data Tells You

Orcas Power & Light Coop is a member-owned electric cooperative operating in Washington under EIA identifier 14170. It reports service to approximately 15,855 customer accounts and generated about $0.04 billion in annual electric revenue, with a service footprint spanning 9 ZIP codes. Cooperative ownership means the utility is run for the benefit of the ratepayer-members who elect its board, rather than for shareholder returns, which can shift how rate and investment decisions get made.

In 2023, the average Orcas Power & Light Coop customer experienced 1290.8 minutes of power interruptions, a metric called SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index). That runs well past the 120–180 minute national benchmark, which can reflect storm-exposed terrain, an aging grid, or slower restoration times. SAIFI, the average number of outage events per customer, was 4.39 for the same period, so customers statistically faced roughly 4 distinct interruptions that year. Excluding major event days (hurricanes, ice storms), SAIDI drops to 1290.8 minutes, the gap between that figure and the headline 1290.8 reveals how much weather, not day-to-day infrastructure, drove outages.

Orcas Power & Light Coop has 4 years of continuous EIA reporting on file (2020–2023), enough to read a real trend rather than a single-year snapshot. Over that span, SAIDI rose from 222.3 to 1290.8 minutes, possibly reflecting tougher weather years or grid upgrades that have not caught up yet.