Moncton Power Outage Guide: Where to Check Updates and How to Prepare
The lights flicker during a windstorm, and the first question is always the same. Is it just your street, or is half of Greater Moncton in the dark? Southeastern New Brunswick knows this feeling well. Post-tropical storm Dorian left more than 22,000 customers without power in Moncton, Riverview, and Dieppe in 2019. This guide covers where to find live updates on a power outage in Moncton and how NB Power decides who gets power back first. It also covers keeping your home running through a longer outage, and what to do before the next one.
How to Check a Power Outage in Moncton Today
For current outage information, use NB Power's live outage map. What it can do is point you to the sources that update in real time. Checking those first usually saves you a long wait on hold.
Where to Get a Moncton Power Outage Today Update
Start with the official channels rather than social media:
NB Power outage map, which refreshes roughly every 10 minutes at nbpower.com
NB Power reporting, either through the online form or by phone at 1-800-663-6272
Moncton Alerts at monctonalerts.ca, for texts, emails, or voice calls about road closures, boil-water advisories, and Environment Canada weather warnings
Town of Riverview alerts and social accounts, for Riverview residents
Alert Ready, which carries only life-threatening emergencies in New Brunswick
One quick check comes first. Look outside to see whether your neighbours are also dark, then check your own breaker panel. If the street is lit and you are not, the problem is likely inside your home.
How NB Power Decides Who Gets Power Back First
Restoration follows a set order rather than a queue. NB Power works through public safety first, then the transmission system, then critical services such as hospitals, water, and communications. After that come the repairs that restore the most customers in the least time, and finally small neighbourhoods and individual homes.
That order explains why estimated times shift so much. A single repair on day one can restore thousands of homes at once. A late-stage repair may bring back a single property. The same reporting and restoration process applies to outages elsewhere in New Brunswick, so the map reads the same way wherever you live in the province.
Knowing when power is coming back helps you plan. When the answer is "not today," the next priority is keeping the home warm and running.
Keeping Your Moncton Home Running Through a Longer Outage
Many Moncton homes depend on electricity for heat, which makes a winter outage more than an inconvenience. Statistics Canada found that heat pumps were the most common home heating method in New Brunswick in 2021, used by 32 percent of households. A heat pump stops the moment the grid goes down.
What Else Stops Working
Heat is the headline, but it is not the only loss. The City of Moncton notes that homes on a septic system lose their water and sewer pump during an outage. Rural properties on a well lose pressure the same way. Fridges and freezers start warming, and phone chargers go quiet within hours.
Long outages do happen here. The January 2017 ice storm caused widespread outages across New Brunswick. About 133,000 customers were without power at the peak, and the restoration effort lasted more than two weeks. NB Power reported costs of roughly $30 million.
Why Gas Generators Are Not the Easy Answer
Many homeowners start with a gas generator and then reconsider. Health Canada advises running a generator at least 6 metres from any building, never indoors, and never in a garage or shed. Exhaust must point away from windows and doors.
There is a wiring question too. Connecting a generator to your home's circuits safely requires a transfer switch installed by a qualified electrician. Fuel storage, refuelling in a storm, and annual servicing all add to the job. Deciding which loads matter is the first step in staying warm through a winter outage, and that decision shapes everything you buy afterward.
A battery system answers those same needs differently. It sits indoors with no exhaust, it switches over on its own, and it powers the circuits you choose without a fuel delivery. For a Moncton home, that usually means the heat pump, the pumps, and the fridge. EcoFlow's TITAN series is built around exactly that list, in modular sizes you can grow.
Circuit-level control is more than some homes need. If you would rather power heating, pumps, and the kitchen directly , the standard EcoFlow TITAN covers the same essentials with a simpler setup.
Backup power helps most when you know what you are planning for. Moncton's outage history shows which risks come up again and again.
Why Moncton Loses Power: Common Causes and Notable Outages
Most outages in the Moncton area start the same way. Trees, wind, snow, or ice come into contact with power lines. Post-tropical storms such as Dorian in 2019 and Fiona in 2022 remain the biggest single threat to the southeast.
Event | Date | Impact |
Post-tropical storm Dorian | September 7 to 9, 2019 | About 80,000 NB Power customers lost power, including more than 22,000 in Moncton, Riverview, and Dieppe |
Ice storm | January 24 to 26, 2017 | Peak of about 133,000 customers province-wide, 12 days to restore, and NB Power's costliest restoration at roughly $30 million |
Easter Sunday windstorm | April 20, 2025 | Up to 58,000 outages province-wide |
There is a reason you may not see a crew on your street. The damage causing your outage can sit kilometres away, on a line that feeds your neighbourhood from somewhere else. Storm season preparation is the same work whether the system arrives as a hurricane or a windstorm. That overlap is why hurricane readiness for Atlantic Canada applies directly to the post-tropical storms that reach Moncton.
Whatever causes the outage, the first few hours matter most for safety and food.
What to Do During a Power Outage in Moncton
A few simple steps protect your home, your food, and your family until power returns. The City of Moncton's own guidance is a good starting point. Most of it takes only a minute or two.
During the Outage
Unplug sensitive electronics and turn thermostats to their minimum, since a surge on restoration can damage equipment.
Leave one light switch on so you know the moment service is back.
Never use a BBQ, propane heater, or generator indoors.
Never leave candles unattended.
Stay well back from downed lines and report them to NB Power.
How Long Food Stays Safe
Keep the doors shut and the clock works in your favour. Health Canada puts a full freezer at about 48 hours and a half-full freezer at about 24 hours. An unopened fridge holds a safe temperature for roughly four hours.
After that, judgment matters more than guesswork. Knowing how long food lasts without power helps you avoid both needless waste and a case of food poisoning. When you are unsure about an item, throw it out.
Once the lights are back on, it is the right time to get ready for the next outage.
Preparing for the Next Moncton Power Outage
The Government of New Brunswick asks households to be self-sufficient for at least 72 hours. A little preparation now makes the next outage far easier to sit through. None of it takes long.
Work through this checklist before storm season:
Build a 72-hour kit with water, food, medication, a flashlight, and a battery or crank radio.
Sign up for Moncton Alerts, or Riverview's alert service if you live there.
Bookmark the NB Power outage map on your phone.
Plan backup power for heat, pumps, and any medical devices.
Trim trees near the service lines on your property, using a qualified arborist for anything close to wires.
Conclusion
For a power outage in Moncton, the NB Power outage map and Moncton Alerts are your fastest sources of live information. Restoration follows a set priority order, so published estimates shift as crews work through it. Report the outage, protect your food and electronics, keep fuel-burning devices outside, and build a 72-hour plan. For heat, pumps, and refrigeration through a longer outage, the EcoFlow TITAN Plus and EcoFlow TITAN are both worth a look.
FAQs
How do I check if there is a power outage in Moncton right now?
Start with the NB Power outage map at nbpower.com, which refreshes about every 10 minutes. Moncton Alerts also sends texts and emails about local emergencies and weather warnings.
What number do I call to report a power outage in Moncton?
NB Power's outage line is 1-800-663-6272. Use the same number to report a downed line, and treat every fallen wire as live.
How long do power outages usually last in Moncton?
Most are resolved within hours. Major storms take longer, and the January 2017 ice storm needed 12 days for full restoration across the province.
Why is my power still out when my neighbours have power?
Your home may sit on a different circuit, or the remaining fault may affect only a few properties. Individual homes are restored last under NB Power's priority order.
How long will food stay safe in my fridge during an outage?
About four hours in an unopened fridge. A full freezer holds for roughly 48 hours and a half-full freezer for about 24 hours, as long as the door stays closed.
How can I keep my heat pump running during a power outage?
A heat pump needs more starting power than most portable units supply. A home battery system such as the EcoFlow TITAN Plus is sized for 240V loads of that kind.