WASHINGTON — A power failure in the Foggy Bottom area left more than 1,100 Pepco customers without electricity Monday, affecting a part of the capital that includes George Washington University, the World Bank and other federal and international institutions.
Pepco’s outage information showed approximately 1,176 customers affected near 23rd and I streets NW around 10:15 a.m., according to contemporaneous reports. The utility identified a problem at one of its substations as the likely cause and dispatched emergency crews to investigate and restore service.
D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel also responded to reports of smoke emerging from manholes in the area. The cause of the smoke and its precise relationship to the electrical failure were not established in the available official accounts.
PEPCO repair trucks were spotted in the 1800 block of Pennsylvania Avenue throughout the day, an area under a massive renovation as part of the Pennsylvania Avenue redevelopment plan. Several excavators and other heavy equipment have been digging on the Avenue for months, though a direct connection between their work and the power outage has not been established.
The disruption was reported in Foggy Bottom and parts of downtown, including the vicinity of George Washington University, the State Department and the World Bank. The number of individual buildings or occupants affected cannot be determined from the utility’s customer count.
Pepco initially estimated that service would be restored late Monday morning, and by 2:00pm they sent out a message that service had been restored.
