Washington DC power outage today: Smoke comes out of manholes in Foggy Bottom neighbourhood just one day before US midterm elections 2026

Washington DC faced a long power cut after smoke was reported to come out from several manholes in the Foggy Bottom area on Monday. Over 1,100 customers were impacted. The power cut occurred due to a power outage at a substation. The George Washington University (GWU) and other government buildings were affected. Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco) said that they were investigating the cause of the power cut. Fire and emergency services attended the smoke coming out of manholes. All of this happened just one day before the US midterm elections 2026 on Tuesday.

Washington DC power outage today

According to Pepco’s outage map, approximately 1,176 customers in the area of 23rd Street NW and I Street NW were without power as of 10.15am on Monday. Pepco said the outage occurred due to a power outage at a substation. The company will restore power by 11 am, it earlier said.


Pepco said that crews are investigating the cause of the outage and trying to restore power safely. Smoke was reported coming from several manholes in the Foggy Bottom area. DC Fire and EMS attended the 1800 block of H Street NW to investigate. Pepco crews were also present.

US midterm elections 2026: What is at stake?

The power cut in Washington DC occurred just one day before the US midterm elections on November 3. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives will be decided. 33 regular seats and 2 extra seats in special elections in the Senate. Voters will also vote for governors in 36 states.

Republicans currently have control of both houses of Congress. Democrats want to gain seats and take control of the House and Senate. Important races in the Senate are Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Ohio and Texas which are all controlled by Republicans. There is also the seat in Michigan which is controlled by Democrats. These are seen as key races.