Parkersburg, West Virginia Power Outage Today

How reliable is Mon Power (FirstEnergy) service in Parkersburg?

Mon Power (FirstEnergy) is an investor-owned utility with 390,918 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 2.87 interruptions and 852 minutes (about 14.2 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 5 hours.

Major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately, made up about 46% of that time. Without them the average is 462 minutes, so weather matters here but ordinary equipment faults and tree contact account for most of the total.

The long average outage is the notable figure: when the lights went out for Mon Power (FirstEnergy) customers, they stayed out for about 5 hours on average, which is long enough to spoil refrigerated food and strain medical needs.

For comparison, West Virginia as a whole averaged 1,166 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Mon Power (FirstEnergy) below the state average, which is better.

Among the 4 utilities in West Virginia with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Mon Power (FirstEnergy) ranks 3rd for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 12% 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 Parkersburg

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 232 storm reports for Wood County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (124), hail (37), flood (32), and flash flood (32). The busiest full year was 2025 with 55 reports and the quietest was 2018 with 5, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in April (58 since 2015), followed by July 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 32 storm episodes in Wood County since 2015, most often in April. 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 Parkersburg 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 Parkersburg

Within Wood County, 77 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Parkersburg as their location or in their description: thunderstorm wind (39), flash flood (19), flood (10), and hail (5). That is about 33% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Parkersburg are most common in July. The busiest full year was 2025 with 15. These reports record 2 deaths and 1 injury in total.

In NOAA’s own words, storms that left Parkersburg without power:

• April 1, 2026 (thunderstorm wind): “Power lines were knocked down along 22nd Street in Parkersburg.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database
• March 7, 2026 (thunderstorm wind): “In Parkersburg, a tree fell onto power lines at the intersection of Neal Street and 4th Avenue.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database
• July 1, 2025 (thunderstorm wind): “In Parkersburg, power lines were blown down on Brooklyn Drive.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database

Who a power outage hits hardest in Parkersburg

76.5% of occupied homes in Parkersburg are heated with piped natural gas, and 21.2% 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 21.6% of the population in Parkersburg, above the US share of 17.2% and 19.3% 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 Mon Power (FirstEnergy) whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 71.7% of the housing in Parkersburg 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.

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

Backup power and electricity use in Parkersburg

The average Mon Power (FirstEnergy) home used about 892 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 1.2 kW around the clock, and paid about 14.0 cents per kWh (15.1 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $125 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 5 hours takes about 2.0 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 Parkersburg

About 29,220 people live in Parkersburg, the 4th largest of the 5 West Virginia cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Mon Power (FirstEnergy)’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.

Parkersburg power outage map

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

Parkersburg power outage questions