Editorial Policy

PowerOutageTracker exists to give people a clear, accurate picture of the power grid, especially when something goes wrong. These standards cover our live data, guides and reports.

1. Primary sources first

Facts come from the organizations that produce or regulate them: the U.S. Department of Energy and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ODIN, EAGLE-I), the Energy Information Administration, NOAA's National Weather Service and Space Weather Prediction Center, CISA, FERC, NERC, grid operators, the CDC, USDA, FEMA and the American Red Cross. We use reputable news reporting for event details and say when we do. Every guide lists its sources.

2. Numbers you can trace

Every live figure shows its source and update time. Historic figures name their dataset and years. Where data has known limits, such as partial live coverage or estimated county customer counts, we say so next to the number and explain it on our data & methodology page.

3. Prepared, not scared

Grid threats like cyberattacks, solar storms and EMP attract hype. We report what has actually happened and what experts and regulators say, and we label uncertain or disputed claims clearly. We don't publish rumors, and we don't sell anything.

4. How content is produced

Our guides are researched and drafted with the help of AI tools. Every factual claim is checked against the primary sources cited, and claims we can't verify are left out. State, county and report pages are generated from public datasets using documented, repeatable methods. The narrative on those pages is built from each place's own data, not from generic text.

5. Independence

We are not affiliated with any utility, grid operator, government agency or equipment seller. No one pays to influence our coverage or rankings.

6. Corrections

If you find an error, email contact@poweroutagetracker.com. We fix confirmed errors promptly and update the "Updated" date on the page.