Power Outages in Lexington: Who to Call and What to Do
When the power goes out, the first step is reporting it, because a utility cannot dispatch to an outage it does not know about. This page covers how to report an outage to Kentucky Utilities, where restoration status is published, and what to do about food, traffic, and hazards until the lights come back. It does not track outages and does not know current conditions anywhere in Lexington.
Report your outage to Kentucky Utilities
If Kentucky Utilities is the provider on the electric bill, there are four ways to report an outage. Reporting matters even during a large storm, because the utility builds its restoration picture from reported outages.
Text
Text OUTAGE to 454358, which also spells 4LGEKU. Registering a mobile number in a KU account first speeds the process up, but is not required. Texting STATUS to the same number returns an update.
Phone
Call 800-981-0600, then press 1 and 1 for electric outages. The automated system takes reports 24 hours a day.
Mobile app
The LG&E and KU app takes outage reports, and it offers guest access, so a login is not needed to report one.
Online
Signed-in customers can report an outage from their KU account.
Current outage status lives on Kentucky Utilities' own outage map, which the utility describes as updated in near real time with estimated restoration times and the cause of an outage when it is known. That map is the authoritative place to check, at the KU outage map.
This page does not track outages. It carries no live counts and no restoration estimates. Check the utility's map for anything about current conditions.
While the power is out
Dark traffic signals
City of Lexington guidance is to treat an intersection with a dark signal as a four-way stop, with drivers proceeding in the order they arrived, as traffic permits. A flashing red signal is treated as a stop sign, and a flashing yellow means proceed through the intersection cautiously. Before driving, road conditions at a number of intersections can be checked on the Lexington traffic cameras page.
Refrigerator and freezer
Federal food safety guidance is to keep the doors shut. A refrigerator holds food safely for about 4 hours, a full freezer for roughly 48 hours, and a half-full freezer for about 24 hours. Thawed food can be refrozen if it still has ice crystals or is at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below, though quality may suffer. Never taste food to judge whether it is safe. When in doubt, throw it out.
Generators
Run a generator outdoors only, more than 20 feet from windows, doors, and vents. Never run one inside a home or a garage, even with the doors and windows open. Carbon monoxide has no color and no smell, so a battery-powered carbon monoxide detector is worth having when a generator is running.
Downed lines and downed trees
Never approach a downed power line. Assume it is live, keep people and pets well away, and report it to Kentucky Utilities at 800-981-0600. Trees are handled by the city rather than the utility, and the routing depends on the hazard: for a tree blocking a road, the city directs residents to call 911, and for a downed tree that does not pose a safety risk, contact LexCall 311 or 859-425-2255.
After the power comes back
Check food against the timings above before eating or cooking anything that was in the refrigerator or freezer, working item by item rather than judging the whole shelf at once.
If some outlets or circuits are still dead after power returns, check the breaker panel for tripped breakers, and press the reset button on any GFCI outlets, which are the ones with test and reset buttons, commonly in kitchens, bathrooms, garages, and outdoors.
Restock whatever the outage used up, including batteries, phone power banks, bottled water, and any food that had to be thrown out, so the next one starts from a full shelf.
Storm season in Lexington
Lexington loses power for the same reasons most of central Kentucky does. Summer thunderstorms bring wind that puts limbs and whole trees into overhead lines, and winter brings ice that loads those same lines and branches until something gives. Outages of some size happen every year, so the useful posture is preparation rather than reaction: know how to report one, keep flashlights and charged power banks where they can be found in the dark, and keep the freezer full enough to hold its temperature.
The March 2023 windstorm, replayed
The animation below replays the March 2023 windstorm across Fayette County, the largest outage event in the county's recorded outage data measured by customer-hours. It plays the recorded outage counts, one reading roughly every 90 minutes, from the first losses on a Friday evening through six days of restoration.
Twelve years of Lexington outages
The most damaging outage in Lexington's recorded history is not the February 2021 ice storms that many residents remember. It is the March 2023 windstorm replayed above, which totaled 3,305,612 customer-hours, more than double the 1,587,228 of the July 2018 storms that rank second. The February 2021 ice storms were a genuine multi-day event, and they sit 9th of the 336 events in the record at 80,355 customer-hours, about 2 percent of the March 2023 total, because Lexington was not among the hardest hit parts of Kentucky in those storms.
The five largest events, ranked by customer-hours
| Event | Peak out | Approx. % of county | Hours above 1,000 | Customer-hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2023 windstormMarch 3 to 9, 2023Replayed above | 52,488 | 30.8% | 126 | 3,305,612 |
| July 2018 stormsJuly 20 to 23, 2018 | 58,693 | 34.4% | 69.8 | 1,587,228 |
| September 2024, Helene remnantsSept 27 to Oct 1, 2024 | 40,101 | 23.5% | 96.8 | 1,372,669 |
| July 2023 stormsJuly 2 to 5, 2023 | 32,327 | 18.9% | 56 | 850,401 |
| April 2024 stormsApril 2 to 4, 2024 | 12,536 | 7.3% | 37.8 | 213,940 |
Customer-hours multiply the customers out by the time they were out, so the ranking rewards a long outage over a brief spike. Peak alone tells a different and thinner story: the July 2018 storms put 58,693 customers out at once, the highest reading in the record, and still finish second, because the March 2023 windstorm held the county above 1,000 customers out for 126 hours against their 69.8.
The rhythm of a Lexington outage year
Across a record running November 2014 through December 2025, Fayette County crosses 1,000 customers out about 30 times a year, and roughly 3 of those a year grow large enough to register as major. Most end quickly: 313 of 336 events stayed above the threshold for six hours or less, and only 8 ran past a full day. The seasonal split is not the one the ice-storm memory suggests. July is the busiest month in the record, and of the 38 largest events by customer-hours, 24 fall between May and September against 10 between November and March. No ice storm appears in the table above. What the largest events share is duration rather than season: each of the top four held the county above 1,000 customers out for more than two days, and restoration ran in days rather than hours. That is the history the record describes, not a statement about any current or future outage.
Outage data from EAGLE-I, the Environment for Analysis of Geo-Located Energy Information, operated by Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy, DOI 10.6084/m9.figshare.24237376, used under CC BY 4.0. Values are the despiked series: the raw data carries single-reading spikes that jump from near zero to five figures and back within one 15-minute reading, so events are ranked by customer-hours rather than by peak. Readings are county-level only and carry no neighborhood detail. Percentages are approximate, using a fixed modeled count of 170,657 Fayette County customers as of 2022 for every year. The record runs November 2014 through December 2025 and is updated annually.
Trash and recycling collection can shift after a major storm, both from the weather itself and from the debris that follows it. The current schedule, along with any active schedule-change notice, is on the Lexington trash pickup page.
Frequently asked questions
How do I report a power outage in Lexington?
Kentucky Utilities takes outage reports four ways. Text OUTAGE to 454358, which also spells 4LGEKU. Call 800-981-0600 and press 1 then 1 for electric outages. Report it in the LG&E and KU mobile app, which allows guest access without logging in. Or report it online through a KU account.
How do I check whether my outage is already reported?
Kentucky Utilities publishes an outage map that it describes as updated in near real time, showing outages in an area along with the estimated time of restoration and the cause when it is known. Texting STATUS to 454358 also returns an update. This page does not track outages and does not know current conditions.
How long does food last in the refrigerator without power?
Federal food safety guidance says a refrigerator keeps food safe for about 4 hours if the door stays closed. A full freezer holds a safe temperature for roughly 48 hours, and a half-full freezer for about 24 hours, again with the door kept shut. Never taste food to judge whether it is safe. When in doubt, throw it out.
What do I do at a traffic light that is out?
City of Lexington guidance is to treat an intersection with a dark signal as a four-way stop. Drivers proceed in the order they arrived, as traffic permits. A flashing red signal is treated as a stop sign, and a flashing yellow means proceed through the intersection cautiously.
What was Lexington's worst power outage?
Measured by customer-hours, which counts how many customers lost power and how long they were out, the largest outage in Fayette County's recorded history is the March 2023 windstorm, which ran March 3 to 9, 2023. It reached a peak of 52,488 customers out, roughly 31 percent of the county, held the county above 1,000 customers out for 126 hours, and totaled 3,305,612 customer-hours, more than double the second largest event. The February 2021 ice storms, which many residents remember as the worst, rank 9th. The record comes from EAGLE-I and covers November 2014 through December 2025.
How often does Lexington lose power in a major storm?
Fayette County's recorded outage history shows about 30 events a year that put at least 1,000 customers out, of which roughly 3 a year grow large enough to register as major. Most clear quickly: 313 of the 336 recorded events stayed above 1,000 customers out for six hours or less, and only 8 ran longer than a full day. July is the busiest month in the record. These figures describe what has happened since November 2014, and they are history rather than a forecast.
Who do I call about a downed tree or a downed power line?
Never approach a downed power line. Assume it is live, keep everyone well away from it, and report it to Kentucky Utilities at 800-981-0600. For a tree blocking a road, the city directs residents to call 911. For a downed tree that does not pose a safety risk, contact LexCall 311 or 859-425-2255.
Reporting channels, phone menus, and safety guidance change. Confirm current details with Kentucky Utilities before relying on them, and call 911 for any immediate danger.