Burke County, NC Power Outages
Only some utilities serving Burke County, North Carolina share live outage data (Rutherford Elec Member Corp), and none of them report outages here right now. Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC and Mountain Electric Coop, Inc do not share live data, so check their outage maps for real-time status.
Burke County on the North Carolina outage map
- Normal
- Minor
- Moderate
- Major
- Severe
- Limited data
Current outages
Weather alerts
No active outage-relevant weather alerts from the National Weather Service.
Burke County power outage history
Every significant outage recorded in Burke County since late 2014, with likely causes from NOAA storm reports
Since late 2014, DOE's EAGLE-I monitoring system has recorded 296 significant power outages in Burke County, meaning events that left at least 1% of customers in the dark. The largest (Sep 27 – Oct 10, 2024) came when flooding left 35,178 customers (100% of the county) without power.
From 2018 to 2025, the average customer here lost about 38 hr 18 min of power per year, more than the North Carolina average of 26 hr 3 min. That ranks 27th of 100 North Carolina counties for outage time, where 1st has the most.
September is the riskiest month: it accounted for 43% of all customer outage time from 2018 to 2025. On 120 days in that period, at least 5% of customers were out at the same time. Outage time in Burke County has risen recently: about 64 hr 57 min per customer per year in 2022–2025, versus 11 hr 40 min in 2018–2021.
The most recent significant outage on record (Dec 19, 2025) affected 252 customers (1.3%) amid severe thunderstorms.
Worst outages on record
| # | When | Peak customers out | Days | Likely cause (NOAA) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 27 – Oct 10, 2024 | 35,178(100%) | 14 | Flooding |
| 2 | Oct 29 – Nov 2, 2020 | 10,129(51.3%) | 5 | Flooding |
| 3 | Nov 10, 2023 | 7,646(38.7%) | 1 | No major storm reported |
| 4 | Aug 6–15, 2023 | 5,654(28.6%) | 10 | Severe thunderstorms |
| 5 | Oct 23–30, 2017 | 5,228(26.5%) | 8 | Tornadoes |
Hours without power per customer, by year
When outages happen
Source: DOE/ORNL EAGLE-I recorded electricity outages, 2014–2025 (CC BY 4.0), with likely causes from the NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database. EAGLE-I coverage was partial before 2018, so averages use 2018–2025. Peak counts are the highest number of customers out at one time.
Who provides electricity in Burke County?
Electric companies with service territory in Burke County (EIA-861, 2025)
| Utility | Type | Customers (NC) | Avg. outage time / yr | Live data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke Energy Carolinas | Investor Owned | 2,274,896 | Not reporting | |
| Rutherford Elec Member Corp | Cooperative | 78,498 | Reporting | |
| Mountain Electric Coop, Inc | Cooperative | 20,165 | Not reporting | |
| City of Morganton - (NC) | Municipal | 8,911 | Not reporting | |
| Town of Drexel - (NC) | Municipal | 1,256 | Not reporting |
Customer counts are each utility's statewide total in North Carolina. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 & Electric Power Annual.
Local outage news
No Burke County outage headlines in the past week.
Cities in Burke County
Morganton
Nearby counties
Burke County power outage FAQ
Is the power out in Burke County right now?
No outages are currently reported for Burke County by participating utilities. Live coverage is limited here, so If your power is out, report it to your electric company.
Which electric company serves Burke County?
According to EIA-861 service territory data, Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC, Rutherford Elec Member Corp, Mountain Electric Coop, Inc, City of Morganton - (NC) and 1 others provide electric service in Burke County, North Carolina.
What was the worst power outage in Burke County?
The largest outage recorded by DOE's EAGLE-I system since 2014 was Sep 27 – Oct 10, 2024. It peaked at 35,178 customers without power (100% of the county). NOAA storm reports for that period point to flooding.
How often does the power go out in Burke County?
EAGLE-I has recorded 296 significant outages here since late 2014. From 2018 to 2025 the average customer lost about 38 hr 18 min of power per year, and on 120 days at least 5% of customers were out at once.
Cite this page
You may reuse our derived data under CC BY 4.0 with attribution. Underlying government data is public domain.
PowerOutageTracker.com. "Burke County, NC Power Outages." Accessed November 3, 2026. https://poweroutagetracker.com/outages/north-carolina/burke-county