Washington DC power outage update: Pepco says power restored for all customers in Foggy Bottom after over 1100 hit, GWU classes canceled

Over 1,000 Pepco customers in Foggy Bottom were without power for several hours on Monday (Nov. 2) after an issue at the company's I Street Substation. D.C. Fire and EMS responded to reports of smoke rising from several manholes in the 1800 block of H Street NW. Pepco crew members rushed to the scene and worked to restore power. In an update shared at 2:20 pm, Pepco said that power had been restored for all customers. An investigation into the cause of the outage was ongoing.

Over 1,100 customers affected

In an earlier statement, Pepco had said that it was responding to an outage that had affected about 1,100 customers. "We understand how disruptive an outage can be, and we appreciate our customers’ patience as our crews work to restore service," it said.


"Pepco crews are on site assessing conditions and are working safely and as quickly as possible to restore power. At this time, the cause of the event remains under investigation. Because the situation is still developing, we do not yet have an estimated restoration time. We will share updates as more information becomes available. For their safety, we ask residents and visitors to stay clear of work areas," the company added.

As of 12:36 pm, about 1,176 customers were affected in the area near 23rd and I Streets NW, according to an outage map issued by the Potomac Electric Power Company, commonly known as Pepco. The outage had disrupted parts of George Washington University’s (GW) campus and the surrounding area.

GW canceled most classes

In an alert issued shortly before noon, GW said it had canceled most in-person and remote classes for the remainder of the day due to the power outage.

In an advisory sent at 12:15 pm, more than 70 residential and academic buildings on the GW campus were without power. The university said it was working with Pepco and local partners to monitor restoration operations.

In a final update, GW said on its website: "Power has been fully restored to the Foggy Bottom campus. This is the final message related to this incident." The university added that all in-person and remote classes would take place as planned on Tuesday (Nov. 3).