Washington dc power outage today

On 2 November 2026, a significant power outage struck the heart of Washington D.C., leaving thousands of residents, government offices, and businesses without electricity during the early morning hours. Utility provider Pepco reported that the disruption was triggered by a critical equipment failure at a primary substation serving the downtown corridor. The outage began shortly after 7:30 AM, causing widespread traffic signal malfunctions and forcing several federal agencies to transition to backup generator power. Emergency crews were dispatched immediately to the site to assess the damage and begin repairs. While the utility company managed to restore service to the majority of affected customers by midday, localized pockets of the city remained in the dark as technicians worked to replace damaged transformers. Local authorities urged commuters to exercise extreme caution at intersections where traffic lights remained non-functional. No injuries were reported in connection with the incident, and officials have launched an investigation to determine the underlying cause of the equipment malfunction to prevent future occurrences in the capital's aging electrical grid.