Hartford, Connecticut Power Outage Today

How reliable is Eversource service in Hartford?

Eversource is an investor-owned utility with 1,326,461 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 0.89 interruptions and 159 minutes (about 2.7 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 3 hours.

Major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately, made up about 52% of that time. Without them the average is 77 minutes, so weather matters here but ordinary equipment faults and tree contact account for most of the total.

Outages are infrequent, fewer than one per customer a year, and each was fixed in about 3 hours on average.

For comparison, Connecticut as a whole averaged 154 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That is close to the state average.

Among the 5 utilities in Connecticut with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Eversource ranks 3rd for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 56% of the 926 utilities of that size reported more outage minutes in 2024.

These are the figures the utility itself reported to the US Energy Information Administration (Form EIA-861, 2024) and describe the whole service territory, not one street. Your own address can be better or worse.

Who a power outage hits hardest in Hartford

64.2% of occupied homes in Hartford are heated with piped natural gas, and 24.2% with electricity (US 41.3% electric). A gas furnace still needs electricity for its blower and ignition, so a long winter outage leaves these homes cold too, though a gas supply stays on when the grid fails. Never heat a home with an oven, grill or camp stove indoors.

Residents aged 65 or older are 12.2% of the population in Hartford, below the US share of 17.2% and 15.4% report a disability (US 13.3%). These are the households most likely to depend on powered medical equipment such as oxygen concentrators, CPAP machines and refrigerated medicine. If someone in your home does, ask Eversource whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 72.3% of the housing in Hartford was built before 1970 (US 35.5%), and older neighborhoods often have overhead service lines and mature trees close to the wires, which makes them more exposed to storm outages; 24.3% of homes are in buildings with 20 or more units (US 10.3%), where an outage also stops elevators and water pumps, which matters for upper floors and anyone who cannot use stairs; 74.3% of households rent (US 34.8%), so many residents depend on a landlord to restore building systems and cannot add a generator or battery themselves.

Median household income in Hartford is $46,411, below the Connecticut figure of $95,781. For many households, replacing a freezer of spoiled food or paying for a hotel during a long outage is a real hardship; dialing 211 connects to local shelters, warming or cooling centers and utility assistance programs.

Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 (housing, heating fuel, age and disability tables).

Backup power and electricity use in Hartford

The average Eversource home used about 656 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 0.9 kW around the clock, and paid about 28.5 cents per kWh (28.6 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $187 a month.

Keeping only the essentials on (a refrigerator, router, a few lights and phone chargers, about 400 watts) through an outage that lasts the average about 3 hours takes about 1.2 kWh. A portable power station or a power bank covers that; a generator is more than most households here need for a typical outage.

A generator must never run indoors, in a garage or near a window; generator and food-safety rules are in the power outage guide linked below.

If the power is out in Hartford

About 122,105 people live in Hartford, the 4th largest of the 5 Connecticut cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Eversource’s outage map for an estimate. If neighbors have power and you do not, report it again: the fault may be on the line to your house alone, which is a separate repair.

Hartford power outage map

Eversource’s outage map has the official restoration estimate for your address; the count above comes from residents. Food and generator safety: power outage guide.

Hartford power outage questions