Support
Help with GridPulse
GridPulse shows how close each part of the US power grid is to its limit right now: 14 regions across the lower 48 states, on a night globe at gridpulsemap.com and in the GridPulse app for iPhone, with widgets, alerts and Live Activities.
Contact
Questions, bugs and ideas are all welcome. It helps to include the region, when you saw the problem and a screenshot, and for the app, your iPhone model, iOS version and the app version from the bottom of the About screen.
The numbers
What does the stress percentage mean?
Stress is how much of what a grid can deliver is being used right now: current demand divided by a ceiling.
- Texas (ERCOT) and California (CAISO): the ceiling is the generating capacity the operator reports as available right now. This is the most direct measure.
- Every other region: the ceiling is the region's all-time peak demand record, a rough stand-in where live capacity isn't published. There, 100% means a record-breaking day, not a grid out of power. For the eight hourly regions (below) it is the region's record in EIA-930 data, and the region shows the month it was set.
What do the levels mean?
- Normalbelow 70%
- Elevated70-85%
- High85-95%
- Critical95% and up
Separately, GridPulse shows each operator's own grid status where one is published (normal, advisory, watch, warning or emergency). That is the operator's official word, and it can differ from the stress level.
How often does the data update?
- Every 5 minutes for Texas (ERCOT), California (CAISO), the Midwest (MISO), the Great Plains (SPP), New York (NYISO) and New England (ISO-NE), straight from each operator's public feed.
- Hourly for the other eight regions: Mid-Atlantic (PJM), Southeast, Florida, Carolinas, Tennessee Valley, Kentucky, Northwest & Rockies and Southwest. These use the U.S. Energy Information Administration's EIA-930 data, which usually runs 1-2 hours behind (sometimes 3). Each region shows how far behind it is.
- The website checks for new data every minute, and so does the app while it is open. Widgets ask iOS for a refresh about every 15 minutes; iOS decides exactly when.
Why does a region look stale, waiting or empty?
- STALE on the map means the newest data the page has is more than 5 minutes old, usually because the connection dropped or the server is restarting. The last good numbers stay up, and the page keeps retrying.
- An hourly region 1-3 hours behind is normal. That is how EIA publishes.
- No data, or "feed unavailable" means that operator's feed didn't answer. The region comes back on its own when the feed does. Sources on the map (under Layers on a phone) and Data sources in the app's About screen show the health of every feed; a few optional feeds wait for an access key.
- "Cached" instead of "Updated" on a widget means it couldn't reach GridPulse on its last refresh, for example because the iPhone was offline, so it shows the last reading it saved. It catches up on its next refresh, and opening the app refreshes it.
- "Waiting for new data" on a Live Activity means no new reading has reached it for a while. It shows when the last one was taken.
Are these official numbers?
No. GridPulse reads grid operators' public data and works out stress itself. It is not affiliated with any grid operator, and its numbers are not for operational or safety decisions. During an emergency or a call to conserve power, follow your grid operator, your utility and local officials.
The iPhone app
Alerts aren't arriving
- In iOS Settings, open Notifications, then GridPulse, and check that notifications are allowed.
- In the app's Alerts screen, check that alerts are on, that at least one kind of alert is switched on, and that you have a saved place. Alerts follow your saved places.
- Quiet hours (10 PM to 7 AM unless you change them) hold alerts back; ones that still matter arrive when quiet hours end.
- A Focus or a Scheduled Summary can hold or hide notifications.
- Alerts are rare by design: at most one stress alert per grid every 3 hours, and many days none at all.
- After restoring or moving to a new iPhone, open GridPulse once so it can register again. Turning alerts off and back on also registers again.
Live Activities
A Live Activity follows one grid's stress on your Lock Screen and, on iPhones with the Dynamic Island, at the top of the screen. To start one, open a region in the app and tap Show live on Lock Screen. To have one start by itself when a saved place's grid reaches High, turn on "Live Activity when my grid is High" in the Alerts screen.
- GridPulse keeps it current with push updates. iOS may deliver them less often to save battery. The Live Activity shows when its reading was taken, and says "Waiting for new data" if updates stop arriving.
- iOS runs a Live Activity for up to 8 hours and then ends it. It can stay on the Lock Screen for up to 4 more hours.
- If you don't see one, check that Live Activities are on for GridPulse in iOS Settings.
Which places are covered?
The lower 48 states, in 14 regions. Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico run their own grids and aren't tracked. Grid boundaries follow utility territories, not county or state lines, so a place near a boundary may be served by the neighboring region.
Data sources and credits
- Grid operators: ERCOT, CAISO (including Today's Outlook and OASIS for Western Energy Imbalance Market prices), MISO, SPP, NYISO, ISO New England and PJM public feeds and status pages.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration: EIA-930 hourly demand, forecasts and fuel mix; EIA-860M and EIA-923 power plants; EIA-861 and EIA-861M utilities and retail prices.
- Weather and hazards: NOAA National Weather Service, National Hurricane Center and Space Weather Prediction Center; NIFC wildland fire information (WFIGS); USGS earthquakes; weather and place search by Open-Meteo.com.
- Places and utilities: HIFLD Open (U.S. DHS) utility territories and transmission lines; U.S. Census Bureau Geocoder; FCC Area API; PUCT Power to Choose; Apple Maps in the app.
- Map: NASA Earth Observatory night lights and Blue Marble relief via NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS); Natural Earth via world-atlas; U.S. Census Bureau boundaries via us-atlas; MapLibre; Wikidata and Wikipedia for power plant links.
This product uses the FCC Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the FCC.
GridPulse is not affiliated with any grid operator, government agency or data provider named here. The data is provided as is and can be late, incomplete or wrong, so it is not for operational or safety decisions.
Privacy
No accounts, no ads and no tracking, and locations are rounded to about 1 km before they leave your device. The privacy policy explains what GridPulse handles and for how long. To delete your alert registration, turn alerts off in the app.