New Haven, Connecticut Power Outage Today

How reliable is United Illuminating (UI) service in New Haven?

United Illuminating (UI) is an investor-owned utility with 345,159 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 0.79 interruptions and 122 minutes (about 2 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 2.6 hours.

About 60% of that time came on major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately. On ordinary days the average falls to 49 minutes. A handful of severe-weather days, not everyday faults, set this utility’s year.

Outages are infrequent, fewer than one per customer a year, and each was fixed in about 2.6 hours on average.

For comparison, Connecticut as a whole averaged 154 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts United Illuminating (UI) below the state average, which is better.

Among the 5 utilities in Connecticut with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, United Illuminating (UI) ranks 2nd for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 65% 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 New Haven

60.4% of occupied homes in New Haven are heated with piped natural gas, and 26.1% 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 11.8% of the population in New Haven, below the US share of 17.2% and 12.2% 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 United Illuminating (UI) whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 68.6% of the housing in New Haven 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; 22.9% 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; 71.6% 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 New Haven is $56,851, 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 New Haven

The average United Illuminating (UI) home used about 543 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 0.7 kW around the clock, and paid about 34.0 cents per kWh (28.6 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $185 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 2.6 hours takes about 1.0 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 New Haven

About 134,023 people live in New Haven, the 3rd largest of the 5 Connecticut cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check United Illuminating (UI)’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.

New Haven power outage map

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

New Haven power outage questions