Nashua, New Hampshire Power Outage Today

How reliable is Eversource service in Nashua?

Eversource is an investor-owned utility with 551,456 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 1.6 interruptions and 786 minutes (about 13.1 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 8.2 hours.

About 90% of that time came on major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately. On ordinary days the average falls to 82 minutes. A handful of severe-weather days, not everyday faults, set this utility’s year.

The long average outage is the notable figure: when the lights went out for Eversource customers, they stayed out for about 8.2 hours on average, which is long enough to spoil refrigerated food and strain medical needs.

For comparison, New Hampshire as a whole averaged 923 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That is close to the state average.

Among the 4 utilities in New Hampshire with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Eversource ranks 3rd for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 13% 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.

Storm season and outages in Nashua

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 259 storm reports for Hillsborough County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (166), hail (38), flash flood (37), and flood (18). The busiest full year was 2022 with 35 reports and the quietest was 2019 with 5, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in July (95 since 2015), followed by August and June. October is outside those three months, so an outage now is less likely to be weather-related.

NOAA’s own narratives name power outages in 14 storm episodes in Hillsborough County since 2015, most often in December. That count is a floor, since the database records outages only when a spotter or agency mentions them.

What the most common storm types in Nashua do to the grid:

• Thunderstorm wind. Straight-line wind pushes trees and limbs into distribution lines. These outages are usually local, a street or a neighborhood at a time, and crews clear them circuit by circuit.
• Flash flood. Floodwater reaches ground-level transformers, meters and low-lying substations. Utilities may shut power off ahead of the water on purpose, and wading near flooded equipment can electrocute.
• Hail. Hail rarely cuts power by itself, but it often arrives with the wind and lightning that do, and it breaks solar panels, windshields and exposed utility equipment.

Storm reports that name Nashua

Within Hillsborough County, 24 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Nashua as their location or in their description: thunderstorm wind (14), flash flood (6), and hail (4). That is about 9% of the county’s reports, so most of the county’s weather history happened elsewhere. Reports naming Nashua are most common in July. The busiest full year was 2023 with 8. These reports record 1 injury in total.

Who a power outage hits hardest in Nashua

70.4% of occupied homes in Nashua are heated with piped natural gas, and 12.8% 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 16.9% of the population in Nashua, close to the US share of 17.2% and 12.9% 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: 41.5% of the housing in Nashua was built before 1970 (US 35.5%); 18% 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.

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

Backup power and electricity use in Nashua

The average Eversource home used about 601 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 0.8 kW around the clock, and paid about 22.7 cents per kWh (22.8 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $136 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 8.2 hours takes about 3.3 kWh. A portable power station in the 1 to 3 kWh range covers part of that, and a small inverter generator covers all of it.

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 Nashua

About 91,026 people live in Nashua, the 2nd largest of the 4 New Hampshire 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.

Nashua 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.

Nashua power outage questions