Power outage hits 1,176 customers in Washington DC

A failure at an electrical substation on I Street, in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood, caused a blackout that affected about 1,176 customers in Washington DC. The outage left buildings at George Washington University, the State Department, the World Bank and the IMF without power.

It was an unusual Tuesday scene in downtown Washington. Firefighters responded to 1800 H Street NW after reports of smoke coming from several manholes. The utility company **Pepco** pointed to a likely failure at an electrical substation on I Street in Foggy Bottom and counted approximately **1,176 customers** affected. The exact cause was still under investigation.

## Smoke from manholes and classes suspended
The smoke rising from the manholes brought firefighters to the area, where the power company was working to contain the voltage surge and outages. **George Washington University** suspended classes: several campus buildings lost electricity, and there were problems with traffic lights and IT services.

## State Department, World Bank and IMF
The blackout was not limited to the campus. Power cuts were reported at **State Department** facilities and in buildings of the **World Bank** and the **IMF**, all in the same quadrant of the city. These are offices that run on backup systems, but the scare always strikes in the same place: the grid they share.

## No evidence of sabotage
It is worth separating what is known from what is assumed. There is no published evidence indicating sabotage or an attack. Nor has it been confirmed that the smoke from the manholes was the initial cause of the blackout. A substation failure is a routine breakdown, not a national security episode, however much the neighborhood might suggest otherwise.