Clay CountyPower Outage History
What this grade means
Top 20% most reliable nationally — infrequent, short outages. This county ranks in the most reliable fifth of all US counties in our dataset, based on 12 years of real DOE outage records: outages happen less often here, and when they do occur they tend to be resolved quickly compared to the rest of the country. Baseline outage risk is low, though a severe local storm can still occasionally cause a longer-than-usual outage regardless of the long-term track record.
Outages by year
Outages by month (seasonality)
Worst outage events on record
| Date | Duration | Customers affected | Cause |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 5, 2022 | 4 hrs | 959 (7%) | Drought |
| Mar 6, 2022 | 5 hrs | 867 (6%) | Unnamed event |
| Apr 14, 2018 | 28 hrs | 787 (6%) | Winter Storm |
| Dec 9, 2019 | <1 hr | 782 (6%) | Unnamed event |
| Jul 29, 2025 | 7 hrs | 766 (6%) | Heat |
Was There an Outage on a Specific Date?
Pick a date to see whether a power outage was recorded for Clay County, Iowa that day.
Over the 11 years from 2015 to 2025, Clay County recorded 78 distinct power outage events, averaging 2.1 hours per event.
The single worst outage on record in Clay County started July 5, 2022 (Drought), lasting 4 hours and leaving up to 959 customers without power (7% of the county) at its peak.
April has historically been the worst month for outages in Clay County, with 11 events recorded during that month across the dataset.
Based on this history, Clay County earns a Reliability Grade of A, placing it in the 97th percentile nationally for grid reliability (higher percentile = more reliable).
Similar counties in Iowa
Counties with the closest reliability grade and national percentile to Clay County.
| County | Grade | National percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Emmet County | A | 95th |
| Bremer County | A | 94th |
| Muscatine County | A | 92nd |
| Dubuque County | A | 91st |
| Adair County | A | 90th |
Most reliable counties nationally
The top 3 counties nationally by reliability grade and percentile.
| County | State | Grade | National percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clay County | South Dakota | A | 100th |
| Clearwater County | Minnesota | A | 99th |
| Limestone County | Alabama | A | 99th |
Least reliable counties nationally
The bottom 3 counties nationally by reliability grade and percentile.
| County | State | Grade | National percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clay County | West Virginia | F | 0th |
| Lincoln County | West Virginia | F | 0th |
| Cameron Parish | Louisiana | F | 0th |
FAQ
How often does power go out in Clay County?
Between 2015 and 2025, Clay County recorded 78 outage events, averaging 2.1 hours each.
What is Clay County's reliability grade?
Clay County has a Reliability Grade of A, in the 97th national percentile.
What was the worst power outage in Clay County?
The worst outage on record started July 5, 2022 (Drought), lasting 4 hours and affecting up to 959 customers.