What does a power outage actually cost?

The power goes out. It comes back six hours later, and you move on. You throw out what was in the fridge. You apologize to the client whose call you missed because your phone died, or you explain to your boss you couldn’t make the meeting because your WiFi was down. You tell yourself you'll stock up on candles. You even Google "home generator" and leave a tab open for a day or two.

But then you forget about it. Until the next time.

This is the trap. The cost of a power outage is easy to feel in the moment and easy to forget once it's over. Most of us never actually add those costs up and understand what an outage really costs us.  

So let's do that now, while the lights are on.  

What an outage can actually cost

When it comes to an outage, the number most people anchor to is the electric bill they didn't have to pay.

That's the wrong number.

A 2026 analysis by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory found that major power outages cost U.S. electricity customers an average of $67 billion per year between 2018 and 2024; that number rose to $121 billion in 2024 alone, driven largely by an unusually destructive hurricane season. Over that same period, the number of major outages nationwide jumped 29% as extreme weather events became more frequent and grid infrastructure struggled to keep pace. The average outage stretched from 9.6 hours to nearly 12. The trend is not moving in a favorable direction.

None of this is your fault, and it isn’t even something you can control—but what it does mean for your home is that many smaller, somewhat invisible costs accrue when the power goes down, even for a little while. Add all those costs up, and the total tends to surprise people.

Food— The USDA recommends discarding refrigerator contents after four hours without power, and freezer contents within 24 to 48 hours, depending on how full the freezer is. A well-stocked fridge and freezer for a family of four can represent $300 to $500 in groceries.

Work— For the roughly one in five American workers who work from home at least part of the time, a daytime outage isn't just an inconvenience—it's lost billing hours, missed meetings, and sometimes real professional consequences. Depending on what you do and how long the outage runs, this line item can exceed everything else combined.

Property damage—When power is restored after an extended outage, the surge can damage electronics that weren't unplugged or protected. More significantly, outages during extreme weather can compound into structural damage: flooding when a sump pump goes offline, burst pipes when heat is lost during a winter storm. During the 2021 winter storm that knocked out power across much of Texas and parts of the surrounding region, pipe failures alone caused billions in property damage. The cost range here is wide, from a few hundred dollars to well over $10,000, but the risk is real and worth accounting for.

Generator fuel and maintenance— Many homeowners already have a portable generator in the garage. Portables aren't free to run: depending on the generator and how heavily it’s used, fuel costs can add up quickly, and that's before factoring in maintenance, the inconvenience of manual refueling, and the carbon monoxide hazards that send thousands of Americans to emergency rooms every year.

A single 4-hour outage might look like this: $150 in food loss, $100 in lost work, $50 for a meal out because you weren't sure what was still safe in the fridge.  

Add it up across a meaningful outage and you quickly come to realize that there's no such thing as a free outage—there's just a cheaper one.

The real cost of an outage isn’t always obvious until you start adding up the receiptsDon’t wait for the next one.

If you've been running the numbers in your head while reading this, the good news is you don't have to close this tab and move on because there’s a solution—a whole-home battery backup system.  

Whole-home battery backup is more accessible than ever

Most people think of backup power as a luxury, but the more accurate frame is peace of mind. You know outages are going to happen. You now have a pretty good idea of what they cost. So let’s talk about what you can actually do.

Backup power used to mean a generator: expensive, loud, fuel-dependent, and complicated to own. But now there are home batteries, systems that can store power during normal operation and kick in automatically when the power goes out, with no fuel, no exhaust, and no manual startup.

A home battery isn't a solution to every outage scenario, and how long it lasts depends on its charge and your usage. What a home battery does exceptionally well is handle the outages that most households face more often: the hours-long events that make up the vast majority of outages nationwide. For those situations, a properly sized and installed home battery can keep essential household appliances and systems operating without  requiring the homeowner to manually start or manage anything.

The economics have changed, too.  Traditionally, getting a home battery meant making a significant upfront investment or monthly financing payments, with most backup systems costing approximately $18,000 to $30,000 fully installed and operational. Energywell takes a different approach: we own and maintain the battery system, and provide equipment and installation at no cost to you. Your home becomes part of the Connected Energy Community, a network of home batteries that can work together to help stabilize the local grid, which creates the value that helps cover the cost of the equipment and installation. You get home battery backup and a competitive energy plan, without the traditional cost of buying and installing a system yourself. Power outages may be unavoidable, but the traditional cost of preparing for one isn’t.  

See if your home qualifies today.

_{DISCLOSURE: Energywell Home, LLC (“EWH”) offers whole home battery solutions. EWH’s offers are currently available only in Texas and Illinois. Product availability, system configurations, and pricing vary by state and are subject to change. Backup power is not guaranteed and cannot be relied on for medical or other critical needs; backup duration depends on the battery's state of charge at the start of an outage and your electricity consumption during the outage. Higher charge levels and lower usage will result in longer backup duration. Constant backup power is not guaranteed for the full duration of every outage. Retail electricity plan enrollment is required, products are offered by Elevate Energy, LLC d/b/a Energywell (TX) (PUCT Certificate No. 10353) or Fanfare Energy, LLC d/b/a Energywell (IL) (Illinois Commerce Commission Docket No. 26-0381).  See Terms and Conditions. Battery service is a separate agreement with EWH; eligibility rules apply. $0 upfront installation fee (home electrical upgrades, if required, are extra) and a $99 monthly Battery Service Fee, waived while you take Energywell's electricity supply; 15-year term; cancellation fees apply; see your Battery Service Agreement. Availability, prices, terms, and eligibility for all offers vary by location and are subject to change at any time.}

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