Grid Outages Are Fueling Battery Storage Financing Demand
US electricity customers averaged 11 hours of power interruptions in 2024. That's nearly double the annual average of the prior decade, and hurricanes drove 80% of that total (EIA, 2025). For installers, the scary headline isn't the point. The real question is simpler: is this demand durable enough to plan inventory and financing capacity around?
This piece walks through the outage data. We'll look at how it lines up with storage attach rates, which regions feel it most, and how to size financing capacity around a lasting trend, not a single headline spike.
> Key Takeaways
> - US customers averaged 11 hours of outages in 2024, almost double the 2014-2023 annual average, with hurricanes driving 80% of that total (EIA, 2025).
> - Storage installations hit a record in 2025, up 52% year over year, even as the federal Section 25D credit ended (Wood Mackenzie/ACP, 2025).
> - The national solar-plus-storage attach rate reached 45% in Q1 2026, up from 38% a year earlier (Wood Mackenzie/SEIA, 2026).
> - Reliability, not the expired tax credit, is now a durable driver installers should build into inventory and financing-capacity plans, subject to approval and eligibility on any financed project.
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Are power outages in the US actually getting worse?
Yes. In 2024, US electricity customers averaged 11 hours of power interruptions, nearly double the 2014-2023 annual average. Hurricanes accounted for 80% of that total (EIA, 2025). A major-event outage is an outage caused by storms, wildfires, or other declared emergencies, rather than routine equipment failure. Major-event outages alone averaged roughly 9 hours per customer in 2024. That's up from about 4 hours a year across the prior decade (EIA, 2025).
This isn't a one-year blip, either. Climate Central found the US saw roughly twice as many weather-related power outages from 2014-2023 as it did from 2000-2009 (Climate Central, 2025). For context, Hurricane Helene alone left 5.9 million customers without power across 10 states in 2024 (EIA, 2025). That kind of single event used to be rare. Now it's closer to a seasonal expectation.
Why does this matter for a financing conversation and not just a weather story? Because a decade-long trend line is a planning input, not a reaction to one bad news cycle. Installers pricing inventory and lenders sizing credit lines need the same answer: are they building for a recurring pattern, or a one-off spike?
Is battery storage demand about outages or price?
Both play a role, but the mix is shifting toward reliability. The residential clean-energy credit (Section 25D) ended December 31, 2025 (IRS, 2025). That removed the incentive that used to anchor the sales pitch. Yet US energy storage installations still hit a record in 2025, up 52% year over year (Wood Mackenzie/ACP, 2025).
That combination is worth sitting with. If the tax credit were the main demand driver, installations should have softened once it sunset. Instead, the category grew. This is general information, not tax advice. Consult a qualified tax professional about how the credit's expiration applies to a specific project.
The reframe matters for how installers pitch and how lenders underwrite. In our conversations with installers this year, reliability-motivated buyers tend to be less price-anchored than incentive-chasers were. That's because they aren't comparing the loan payment against a subsidy that just disappeared. Instead, they're comparing it against the cost of the next multi-day outage.
Which regions see the most outage-driven battery storage demand?
Texas, Michigan, California, North Carolina, and Ohio recorded the most weather-related power outages of any US state from 2000 through 2023 (Climate Central, 2025). These states fall into two distinct patterns, though, and installers planning regional inventory should treat them differently.
California's outage exposure is mostly wildfire-driven, through utility public safety power shutoffs. That dynamic has already spurred a residential storage boom in the state (Scientific American, 2025). The Gulf and Atlantic hurricane-belt states (Texas, Florida, the Carolinas) form a second, storm-driven cluster. South Carolina customers, for example, averaged nearly 53 hours of outages in 2024, the longest of any state (EIA, 2025).
That regional split is a practical planning tool. Wildfire-shutoff states need storage sized for planned, multi-day preemptive outages. Hurricane-belt states need something different: storage that pairs well with generator financing for the rare extended event, plus daily short-interruption coverage the rest of the year.
For the tradeoffs between the two technologies, see battery vs. generator financing comparisons.
What does the outage-driven attach-rate data actually show?
The attach rate is the share of new solar customers who also add battery storage. Nationally, it reached 45% in Q1 2026, up from 38% in Q1 2025, a 7-point jump in a single year (Wood Mackenzie/SEIA U.S. Solar Market Insight, 2026). That growth happened in the exact window the federal purchase incentive disappeared.
State-level variation runs well above and below that national figure. Wildfire-shutoff and hurricane-belt states typically run hotter. One quarter of correlation isn't proof of causation on its own. Paired with the outage-hour trend and the record 2025 installation year, though, it's a pattern worth tracking rather than dismissing as noise.
What does this mean for installer inventory and financing planning?
Roughly 70% of US transmission lines are more than 25 years old (DOE's 2025 grid reliability report.pdf), 2025). In other words, outage frequency is an aging-infrastructure trend, not a one-storm anomaly. Structural demand is demand tied to a lasting cause (here, grid age) rather than a single event. Installers who size inventory and financing-partner capacity around that reality, instead of reacting after each headline event, keep deals moving during the exact weeks demand peaks.
> What I'm seeing since the credit expired: Before 2026, customers led with tax-credit payback math. Now, the customers calling right after an outage lead with "how fast can this be installed." They're noticeably less focused on shaving the last few hundred dollars off the quote. That shift changes how installers should staff and stock for storm season. Eduardo Donadi, CEO, Eos Loan
Practically, that means having the financing-capacity conversation with a lending partner ahead of storm season, not during it. Three things matter most: regional demand forecasting by ZIP code cluster, pre-approved credit lines sized for a realistic post-storm surge, and seasonal staffing planned around historical outage windows. The risk shows up fast, too. Under-provisioned financing capacity gets exposed in exactly the weeks after a named storm, when demand peaks and a lender without spare capacity leaves installers scrambling.
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How should installers pitch reliability without fear tactics?
Lead with the customer's specific outage history and the regional data above, not disaster imagery or urgency language. Reliability-motivated buyers respond better to a clear payment plan and realistic runtime expectations than to scare tactics. A factual pitch also holds up better once the adrenaline of a recent outage fades.
Pair this data with a battery vs. generator financing comparison. That way, the customer understands what a battery actually covers, short, frequent interruptions and daily load-shifting, versus what it doesn't: an indefinite multi-day event without solar recharge or a generator alongside it. Layering in VPP enrollment as part of the storage financing conversation also turns the reliability pitch into an income pitch, which helps close hesitant buyers without leaning on fear. Reuse the 45% national attach-rate figure here, too: reliability-driven demand is mainstream now, not a fringe purchase (Wood Mackenzie/SEIA, 2026).
Where does outage-driven demand go from here?
Every data source cited here points the same direction. Outage frequency and duration are elevated compared with a decade ago, and residential storage attach rates kept rising through the same window the federal incentive disappeared. That combination supports planning for durable, not transient, outage-driven demand.
This trend sits inside a broader growth story. For the full macro picture, see the 2026 US battery storage market forecast and the complete guide to how battery storage financing works in 2026. And for households in areas without reliable grid access at all, see off-grid battery storage financing. As always, this is general information, not tax advice. Any financed project remains subject to approval and eligibility.
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Frequently Asked Questions
{ question: "Are power outages actually increasing in the US, or does it just feel that way?", answer: "Yes. US customers averaged 11 hours of outages in 2024, nearly double the 2014-2023 annual average, and weather-related outages roughly doubled from 2000-2009 to 2014-2023 (EIA, 2025; Climate Central, 2025)." }, { question: "Is battery storage demand rising because of outages or because of price?", answer: "Both factors play a role, but outage-driven demand held up even as the federal purchase incentive ended: installations hit a record in 2025 (Wood Mackenzie/ACP, 2025) and attach rates grew into Q1 2026 (Wood Mackenzie/SEIA, 2026)." }, { question: "Which states see the most outage-driven demand for battery storage?", answer: "Texas, Michigan, California, North Carolina, and Ohio recorded the most weather-related outages from 2000-2023 (Climate Central, 2025), with California's wildfire-driven shutoffs and Gulf/Atlantic hurricane states forming two distinct outage-driven demand clusters." }, { question: "How should installers plan financing capacity for outage-driven demand spikes?", answer: "Treat outage frequency as a structural, seasonal-planning input, size financing-partner capacity ahead of storm season rather than after a headline event, and pair the reliability pitch with a clear payment plan instead of urgency-based marketing." } ]} />The takeaway on outage-driven battery storage demand
US outage duration nearly doubled in 2024 versus the prior decade's average, and hurricanes drove 80% of that total. Even so, storage attach rates rose as the federal tax credit ended, and aging grid infrastructure makes this a lasting trend rather than a one-off. In our experience, installers who plan inventory and financing capacity around that data, instead of scrambling after each storm, are better positioned to close projects when demand actually peaks.
Contact Eos Loan to build outage-driven demand into your financing-capacity planning ahead of the next storm season.
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Written by Eduardo Donadi, CEO of Eos Loan. Eos Loan is the fintech built to finance essential projects (battery energy storage, EV chargers, and water filtration) for installers, contractors, and resellers across the United States.
Sources
- EIA, Today in Energy: outage duration data, retrieved 2026-07-15, https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=66744
- Climate Central, Weather-Related Power Outages Rising, retrieved 2026-07-15, https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/weather-related-power-outages-rising
- IRS, Residential Clean Energy Credit (Section 25D), retrieved 2026-07-15, https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/residential-clean-energy-credit
- Wood Mackenzie/American Clean Power Association, 2025 U.S. Energy Storage Installations Set New Record, retrieved 2026-07-15, https://www.woodmac.com/press-releases/2025-u.s.-energy-storage-installations-set-new-record-surpass-2024-by-52
- Wood Mackenzie/SEIA, U.S. Energy Storage Monitor, retrieved 2026-07-15, https://www.woodmac.com/industry/power-and-renewables/us-energy-storage-monitor/
- Scientific American, Blackouts Have Triggered an Energy Storage Boom in California, retrieved 2026-07-15, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/blackouts-have-triggered-an-energy-storage-boom-in-california/
- US Department of Energy, Grid Reliability and Resilience Report, retrieved 2026-07-15, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-07/DOE%20Final%20EO%20Report%20(FINAL%20JULY%207).pdf
- Eos Loan, battery energy storage financing terms (6-240 months), internal product data, retrieved 2026-07-15