‘P.E.P.Co’
courtesy of ‘Hoffmann’
The power outage in the business and residential district just north of Union Station that is affecting 1,800 customers. It’s also affecting half a dozen or more DC Government agencies that make their homes in the office towers there. The outage was caused by an “Underground Cable Fault,” which is Pepco’s fancy talk for “it done blowed up.” The underground power cable runs overheated, which resulted in a failure of the system. Because those lines are underground, it’s a bit of a bear to service.
Now, why it’s taken three days, well, that’s all on Pepco. As Councilmember Yvette Alexander tweeted, starting next fiscal year, Pepco will be on the hook for $100,000 in fines for each “unreliable incident.” It’s not exactly clear what that means yet, but this certainly sounds like it might be an unreliable incident.
Power’s expected back on at noon, but if you’re without power and getting hot today, there are cooling centers open. Also, if you’re wondering which agencies are closed, there’s a list of that, too.
I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.
