Winter Storm Leaves Nearly 297,000 Customers Without Power Across Wide swath of U.S.

A powerful winter storm that delivered heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain has caused widespread power outages across parts of the United States, leaving 296,685 customers without electricity. Utilities including Nashville Electric Service and Entergy reported thousands of customers impacted. Restoration crews from multiple states are working to restore service while insurers and regional planners monitor preliminary damage estimates.

Key Points

Nearly 296,685 customers remain without power after a winter storm that brought snow, sleet and freezing rain across large parts of the U.S.
Major utilities hit include Nashville Electric Service, with 95,687 customers out of 463,455 affected, and Entergy, with over 77,451 affected across its U.S. footprint.
Preliminary estimates put storm-related damage and economic losses between $105 billion and $115 billion; restoration efforts involve multi-state line crews and aerial assessments.

A severe winter storm that brought heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain has left a large number of homes and businesses without power across a broad portion of the United States, stretching from the Ohio Valley and mid-South region to New England. The most recent tallies show 296,685 customers without electricity.

The outage counts are led by Tennessee and Mississippi. Nashville Electric Service (NES) reported 95,687 of its 463,455 customers were without power. Entergy reported more than 77,451 of its 3.05 million U.S. customers affected, according to PowerOutage.us.

NES said in a post on X late on Wednesday: "We continue to make progress in restoration efforts in the last hour. More than 930 lineworkers from seven states are working around the clock and have restored power to 127,000 customers." The utility highlighted the multi-state mobilization of crews and ongoing restoration activity.

Entergy described efforts in a Wednesday release, noting that Entergy Mississippi is deploying aerial resources to assess damage. "Entergy Mississippi is taking to the skies flying drones and helicopters up to 5,000 feet in the air... to better help scan our region for damages, improving the speed in which we can restore power for our customers," the company said.

Forecasters and damage-assessment services have begun producing preliminary loss estimates. AccuWeather said the storm is on track to become the costliest severe weather event since the Los Angeles-area wildfires in early 2025, with initial damage and economic loss estimates ranging from $105 billion to $115 billion.

Here are the major outage counts by state as reported:

Tennessee - 108,648
Mississippi - 100,097
Louisiana - 54,138
Texas - 9,560
Kentucky - 6,651
California - 4,587
Florida - 3,293
Oregon - 2,278

Total Out: 296,685

Restoration work is ongoing and utilities report crews continue to respond across multiple states. Officials and companies have emphasized the scale of the response and use of aerial assessment tools to prioritize repairs and speed restorations for affected customers.

Risks

Ongoing power outages create continued service disruption for households and businesses - primarily impacting the utilities and regional infrastructure sectors.
Preliminary nature of damage estimates means the final economic toll could change as assessments continue - a source of uncertainty for insurers and local economies.
Restoration timelines remain uncertain despite mobilization of crews and aerial inspections; weather conditions and access issues could slow repairs and affect service restoration rates.

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