Stock Markets March 13, 2026

Severe Storms Leave Nearly 400,000 Without Power Across Midwest and Mid-Atlantic

Ohio sustains the largest share of outages, with an American Electric Power unit reporting the highest utility-level impact

By Hana Yamamoto AEP
Severe Storms Leave Nearly 400,000 Without Power Across Midwest and Mid-Atlantic
AEP

Severe storms on March 13 left over 396,000 homes and businesses without electricity across the U.S. Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, with Ohio recording the largest number of outages. State-level data from PowerOutage.us shows concentrated impacts in multiple states, and a unit of American Electric Power reported the highest single-utility outage total in Ohio.

Key Points

  • More than 396,000 homes and businesses were without power across the U.S. Midwest and Mid-Atlantic following severe storms, per PowerOutage.us.
  • Ohio experienced the largest share of outages at roughly 123,300 customers, about 2.3% of the state's ~5.4 million electric customers; a unit of American Electric Power reported around 40,000 customers affected.
  • Significant outages were also reported in Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Pennsylvania, indicating broad regional impacts on residential and commercial electricity service.

March 13 - Severe weather that moved through the U.S. Midwest and Mid-Atlantic region produced widespread power interruptions, leaving over 396,000 homes and businesses without service, according to data compiled by PowerOutage.us. The aggregate disruption spanned several states, with the largest single-state impact recorded in Ohio.

Ohio accounted for roughly 123,300 outages, which equates to about 2.3% of the state's approximately 5.4 million electric customers based on the figures cited. Within Ohio, the most affected utility was a unit of American Electric Power (AEP), which reported around 40,000 customers without service. The data show that AEP serves about 1.5 million electric customers in Ohio.

Beyond Ohio, the storm-related interruptions were concentrated across multiple neighboring states. The reported major outage counts by state were as follows:

  • Ohio: 123,300
  • Wisconsin: 81,100
  • Michigan: 75,100
  • Indiana: 73,700
  • Illinois: 30,700
  • Pennsylvania: 12,600

The total number of customers without power reported in the compiled dataset was 396,500. The figures reflect the status at the time PowerOutage.us released its counts and capture both residential and commercial service interruptions caused by the severe weather.

The concentration of outages in Ohio and the substantial counts in several adjacent states indicate a broad geographic footprint for the storm system. At the utility level, the AEP unit in Ohio recorded the largest single-utility outage total cited in the data, representing a meaningful portion of the state's outages.

While the dataset provides a snapshot of the customer impact across states and utilities, the information does not include restoration timelines or detailed causes for each outage. The counts, however, offer a near-real-time view of the scale of service disruption resulting from the storms.

Risks

  • Restoration timelines are not provided in the data; the duration of outages remains uncertain, creating short-term operational and economic disruption risks for households and businesses in the affected states.
  • Utilities with large outage counts, such as the cited AEP unit in Ohio, may face operational strain as crews prioritize repairs across a wide service territory, which could extend service interruptions for some customers.
  • Broad outages across multiple states may affect sectors dependent on continuous power delivery, including retail, manufacturing, and services, though the dataset does not quantify sector-specific losses.

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