Downtown Washington Area Loses Power; White House Operating on Backup Generators

[marmar]

.....Insert joke here. :P



from Bloomberg:



Downtown Washington, Including White House, Loses Electricity

By Jim Polson

June 13 (Bloomberg) -- As many as 12,535 homes and businesses in downtown Washington, including the White House, lost power when a substation failed.

The White House was operating on emergency generators this morning after losing power from the utility, Pepco Holdings Inc., administration spokesman Tony Fratto said today in a telephone interview. The Treasury Department's ``essential functions are operating,'' spokeswoman Jennifer Zuccarelli said at a briefing.

An equipment failure at Pepco's 10th Street substation near the Washington convention center caused the blackout and is under repair, utility spokesman Bob Dobkin said in an interview. Preliminary surveys indicate the blacked-out area is bounded by T Street, F Street, and 15th Street, he said. The utility reported the number of customers affected as of 9:15 a.m. on its Web site.

``We know what circuits are out, and it's not widening,'' he said.

Metro trains are running, although five Washington stations are without power and Red Line trains were delayed by a fire along the track near DuPont Circle, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority said in a statement posted on its Web site.

Metro stations at DuPont Circle, Shaw-Howard, Farragut North, Farragut West and McPherson Square were on emergency lighting due to power failure, the transit authority said. Escalators, elevators and vending machines at the stations are shut, it said.

The Internal Revenue Service, at 1111 Constitution Ave., still has power, spokesman Robert Marvin said. Electricity was also on at the Capital and State Departments, according to staffers.

The power failure, which started about 7:30 a.m., includes Pepco's headquarters, which is operating on emergency generators, spokesman David Morehead said.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=alYiOlibyygA&refer=home

[Dr.Phool]

1. Luckily, Cheney is battery powered.

:sarcasm:

[Javaman]

2. Anything to do with the heat wave? nt

[Captain Hilts]

3. It's not nearly as hot here as it has been, so probably not. nt

[MiniMe]

4. There were a few fires downtown. Apparently they were in transformers in the Metro system

A few people were hit by cares this morning because there was no power for the stoplights. Its a mess down here. I was very late for work this morning because of this, a lot of buildings still don't have power.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/13/AR2008061301257.html?hpid=topnews

Two Metro Fires, Power Outage Disrupt Downtown

Two fires along Metro's Red Line and a power outage through much of the center city this morning left commuters stranded, offices and tourist attractions dark and street traffic in chaos.

Three pedestrians were struck and injured by cars that were navigating busy streets without benefit of traffic signals, D.C. fire department spokesman Alan Etter said. Traffic signals were out in an area spanning roughly 30 blocks from shortly after 7 a.m. until about 10:30, and D.C. traffic operations crews in lime-green vests directed cars through some, but not all, key intersections.

Meanwhile, fires broke out at 7:30 a.m. and 9:50 a.m. on the tracks near the busy Metro Center station. Officials said equipment that regulates power to the track overheated, causing insulation to smolder. In each instance, trains in both directions had to share a single track, causing significant delays through the heart of downtown. Metro Center was closed at 9:52, although trains continued to pass through the station.

The 3 1/2-hour power outage cut electricity to scores of office buildings, as well as the Dupont Circle, Farragut North, Farragut West, McPherson Square and Shaw-Howard stations. Farecard machines, turnstiles, escalators and elevators were not working because of the power outage, and the Dupont Circle station was shut down for an hour after medics treated a dozen people for shortness of breath after they trudged up that station's particularly steep escalators. The station has the longest climb in the city, and the ascent left many winded. One man was taken to the hospital after his internal defibrillator triggered.

/snip

[NV Whino]

5. Power's not out...

there's just a dim bulb in the White House.