Dupont Circle residents endure third power outage in 3 days amid ongoing Pepco repairs

WASHINGTON (7News) — A DC community is getting hit with its third power outage in as many days.

The lights and air conditioning are back on in Dupont Circle after some went without service for up to three days due to equipment malfunctions with the utility company, Pepco.

Pepco provided the following statement for 7News Sunday afternoon:

Pepco is actively addressing a complex equipment issue at our 22nd Street substation in Washington, D.C., which began on the evening of Tuesday, July 15. The affected infrastructure includes feeder cables between the Takoma and 22nd Street substations, with multiple locations requiring full cable replacement. These equipment issues, along with increased demand from summer heat and intermittent storms, have placed increased load on our electric system, prompting a series of protective actions to prevent larger, more widespread outages. Since the initial incident, Pepco crews have been working around the clock to make both temporary and permanent repairs. The situation remains dynamic, and due to the extent of the damage and the complexity of the system, work is expected to continue through the end of the month. Until all permanent repairs are complete, Pepco may continue to implement controlled outages in the area. These service interruptions are necessary when load levels approach critical thresholds.

Residents told 7News they believe the issue goes beyond the electrical grid.

“It’s been really rough for a lot of my constituents,” Alex Marshall, the advisory neighborhood commissioner (ANC) for the area, said. “Thousands of people without power.”

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Marshall has been posting flyers in the neighborhood, up and down New Hampshire Avenue NW, to keep his community informed due to what he says has been a lack of communication from Pepco.

“I think even from the onset, just saying this is probably gonna be a rolling thing for the next 10 days, which Pepco didn’t do, would’ve been useful for people to understand,” Marshall said. “As an ANC, I have been in frequent contact with Pepco, staff from the Mayor’s Office, and from the DC Council, but those people aren’t in touch with the community, which is really frustrating.”

7News spoke to 77-year-old Mike Silverstein, who lives in the area.

“How hot has it been the past couple of days without power?” reporter Lianna Golden asked.

“This has been the worst it’s been in more than 40 years living here,” Silverstein replied.

Silverstein takes his dog out for a walk every day, multiple times a day. He lives on the 7th floor of his building and is asking for advanced notice of the outages for safety reasons.

“It is getting very, very worrisome and angry,” Silverstein said. “If they’re going to plan this in advance, let us know in advance. I understand if it’s gonna be a shutdown that you gotta do, give us five minutes, 10 minutes to make sure no one is in the elevator.”

Pepco’s statement went on to read:

We understand how disruptive these outages can be, especially when they occur repeatedly, and we sincerely appreciate the patience and understanding of our customers and the broader community. Our crews are working safely and quickly as possible to restore all equipment to its normal configuration. We have also deployed onsite generation to help support the system and have asked large commercial customers to reduce non-essential load. Residential customers are also encouraged to conserve energy where possible to help reduce strain on the system.

“They’re doing the very best they can, and everybody knows the work has to be done, but the issue is, how can we keep ourselves safe, and how can we help?” Silverstein said.