Putnam 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 5, 2024 | <1 hr | 2,330 (5%) | Drought |
| Sep 27, 2024 | <1 hr | 2,280 (4%) | Drought |
| Mar 16, 2025 | 13 hrs | 2,070 (4%) | Unnamed event |
| Jul 25, 2019 | <1 hr | 1,979 (4%) | Unnamed event |
| Oct 26, 2019 | 5 hrs | 1,942 (4%) | Drought |
Was There an Outage on a Specific Date?
Pick a date to see whether a power outage was recorded for Putnam County, Tennessee that day.
Over the 7 years from 2019 to 2025, Putnam County recorded 97 distinct power outage events, averaging 2.0 hours per event.
The single worst outage on record in Putnam County started December 5, 2024 (Drought), lasting less than 1 hour and leaving up to 2,330 customers without power (5% of the county) at its peak.
March has historically been the worst month for outages in Putnam County, with 16 events recorded during that month across the dataset.
Based on this history, Putnam County earns a Reliability Grade of A, placing it in the 98th percentile nationally for grid reliability (higher percentile = more reliable).
Similar counties in Tennessee
Counties with the closest reliability grade and national percentile to Putnam County.
| County | Grade | National percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Scott County | A | 98th |
| DeKalb County | A | 97th |
| Jackson County | A | 99th |
| Lincoln County | A | 99th |
| Unicoi County | A | 96th |
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 Putnam County?
Between 2019 and 2025, Putnam County recorded 97 outage events, averaging 2.0 hours each.
What is Putnam County's reliability grade?
Putnam County has a Reliability Grade of A, in the 98th national percentile.
What was the worst power outage in Putnam County?
The worst outage on record started December 5, 2024 (Drought), lasting less than 1 hour and affecting up to 2,330 customers.