(Updated 5:15 p.m.) As a severe thunderstorm sweeps through Alexandria, Dominion Energy says there are around 2,992 customers in the city without power.
Dominion’s outage map showed that there was a large outage — 3,705 without power — along Duke Street and southern Seminary Hill that has since disappeared from the map. Another large outage — 1,557 customers — is reported just west between James K. Polk Elementary School and Beauregard Street.
As of 5 p.m., Alexandria is under severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings.
There are just under 7K @DominionEnergy customers presently experiencing an outage all over the City, but concentrated on the West End.
Report outages at 866-366-4357 or online at https://t.co/P7thQdZmld pic.twitter.com/LCRuIlnnsp
— Justin Wilson (@justindotnet) August 10, 2022
A power outage in Alexandria has impacted around 2,000 residents
A Dominion Energy outage map indicated that 1,998 customers are currently affected by the outage.
Scanner chatter indicated that intersection lights were out and there were people stuck in elevators, but there was no ongoing fire. A Dominion Energy crewis searching for the cause.
According to the Dominion website estimated time of restoration is between 6-9 p.m., though those tend to be conservative estimates.
Crews are searching for the cause of the current outage in Alexandria. Operations brought restored service to 555 customers with a loop scheme, but we still have 1,998 customers out.
We're working on it.
Thank you for your patience. https://t.co/l2BHtCWdfJ— Peggy Fox (@PeggyDomEnergy) June 30, 2022
The big story in Alexandria this week was the murder of Luis Mejia Hernandez on Tuesday.
Hernandez was stabbed and killed in a brawl outside of the Mcdonald’s in the Bradlee Shopping Center.
Alexandria City High School went to asynchronous learning for the rest of the week to give students space and time to grieve. The Alexandria Police Department were at the scene when the stabbing occurred and friends of Hernandez say police didn’t do enough to stop the stabbing.
Another important story out of the week was power outages on Monday following a storm Sunday evening.
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- These Alexandrians just found a stash of baby formula and donated it to ALIVE!
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- Dominion Energy warns power may not be restored in Alexandria until Tuesday morning
- Expanded King Street pedestrian zone to start this weekend
- Two Alexandria schools switch to remote learning due to ongoing power outages
- VDOT pitches I-495 express lanes expansion from Springfield to Maryland
After a Sunday storm that knocked out power to much of the city, some locals suggested Dominion Energy look into undergrounding more of its utilities, but the power company says costs and other factors keep that from being a viable option on a city-wide scale.
Alan Bradshaw, vice president of strategic partnerships for Dominion Energy, said commissioned studies found the cost of undergrounding all utilities to be “outlandish.”
Northern Virginia Magazine previously reported that the price tag for state-wide undergrounding is around $80 billion.
“Undergrounding is frequently brought up, especially during storms,” Bradshaw said. “The state corporation commissioned a study but installation cost is outlandish and would impact customers and their bills.”
I wonder how much undergrounded power lines would have helped keep power on last night @DominionEnergy ?? We need to talk more openly about this, because storms are going to get worse, due in part to climate change.
— John Taylor Chapman (@j_chapman99) May 23, 2022
Instead, Bradshaw said Dominion has been “strategically undergrounding” to protect some of the more vulnerable power lines.
“We took the opportunity a few years ago, not to underground everything, but to underground some of the more outage-prone lines,” Bradshaw said. “We use ten-year outage histories to identify most outage-prone lines and target the neighborhood lines we go to frequently. We’re undergrounding that for much less cost than undergrounding the entire system.”
Bradshaw did note that undergrounding isn’t viable in every location and — while not citing Alexandria specifically — did say areas that are prone to flooding also make poor candidates for utility undergrounding.
“Of course, not every area is perfect for undergrounding,” Bradshaw said. “If an area is prone to flooding, that’s probably not something we’d do there.”
Meanwhile, Dominion Energy is warning more outages are likely as the year moves into hurricane season.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said conditions are ripe in the Atlantic Ocean for a busy hurricane season.
“The forecast is that we do expect a busy tropical season,” said Alan Bradshaw, vice president of strategic partnerships for Dominion Energy. “The setup is conducive for some of those tracks to come up the coast.”
Bradshaw said Dominion has been upgrading its storm infrastructure, though in ways that may not be immediately apparent to someone driving past. Wooden cross arms, for example, are bein replaced with a lighter but more durable polymer.
“There’s bigger poles, stronger cross arms… a lot of new technology on the grid,” Bradshaw said. “A lot of folks that may drive down the road may see poles and wires and it may look similar to what it did 60 years ago, but there’s a lot of new technology [like] devices that monitor and tell us when there’s damage.”
Bradshaw said recovery efforts prioritize critical infrastructure like hospitals and 911 facilities. Dominion also works in tandem with local agencies on public safety hazards like downed wires.
For locals, Bradshaw said the best thing they can do to help with storm recovery is to report outages, either through an app or through the city website.
The power outages this week were met with frustration from the community.
WHAT DO WE WANT?
ANY FUNCTIONING UTILITIES!
WHEN DO WE WANT IT?
LIKE, TEN YEARS AGO? I MEAN WHAT THE ACTUAL…? I mean, constant, breakneck growth without maintaining, renewing, repairing, and replacing existing infrastructure just seems foolish and maybe we should really think
— Let’s Meat on the Avenue (@LetsmeatDelRay) May 23, 2022
Dominion Energy has previously told the City Council that it would invest $17 million into infrastructure in Alexandria over the next three years as part of an effort to improve reliability, though this pledge was met with some frustration from city officials at the meeting for failing to include any details on what type of improvements that investment entails.
“It’s important to know: our teams are constantly training to be the best when our customers need us most,” Bradshaw said. “When the product we provide is not available it causes issues for our customers. We’re very sensitive to that and motivated on that to get the lights on.”
While Dominion Energy warned earlier that repairs for large swaths of Alexandria could be delayed until Tuesday morning, most of those outages have been cleared up as of 3:30 p.m.
Around 176 Alexandrians remain without power, according to the Dominion website. Those outages are scattered around the city, though 144 of them are in Arlandria — which was hit with widespread outages last night.
The Dominion website said the Arlandria restoration is likely to be resolved between 6-11 p.m., but Dominion spokesperson Peggy Fox told ALXnow those estimates generally reflected the latest possible times those could be delayed.
The outage caused frustrations among Alexandrians, who said the post-storm power outage was a reflection of the poor state of utilities in Northern Virginia.
WHAT DO WE WANT?
ANY FUNCTIONING UTILITIES!
WHEN DO WE WANT IT?
LIKE, TEN YEARS AGO? I MEAN WHAT THE ACTUAL…? I mean, constant, breakneck growth without maintaining, renewing, repairing, and replacing existing infrastructure just seems foolish and maybe we should really think
— Let’s Meat on the Avenue (@LetsmeatDelRay) May 23, 2022
City Council member John Chapman said the outages emphasized the need to take another look at undergrounding more utilities in Alexandria.
I wonder how much undergrounded power lines would have helped keep power on last night @DominionEnergy ?? We need to talk more openly about this, because storms are going to get worse, due in part to climate change.
— John Taylor Chapman (@j_chapman99) May 23, 2022
Image via Dominion Energy
Around 982 customers are currently without power across Alexandria as Dominion Energy scrambles to fix damage from a Sunday night storm.
Power outages already pushed two Alexandria City Public Schools to virtual classes. The Dominion Power website said the outages may not be fixed until 9 p.m. tonight (Monday) or 2 a.m. tomorrow.
Peggy Fox, a spokesperson for Dominion Energy, said the estimate represents hopes for the latest it may be restored.
“The [time of restoration] on there are the extended ranges, that’s as far out as it may take,” Fox said. “There’s a lot of damage.”
Repairing storm damage & replacing electrical wires & poles is intense, difficult & dangerous work.
We take safety extremely seriously @DominionEnergy. We want everyone of our workers to go home tonight. We will not compromise safety for speed.
Thank you for your patience. https://t.co/vHmSzvskQX pic.twitter.com/WNowzd9Xk8
— Peggy Fox (@PeggyDomEnergy) May 23, 2022
Fox said crews working in Arlington, for instance, are clearing away damage from fallen trees — which may take at least eight hours.
“We have to get out here and get our eyes on the damage,” Fox said. “It takes a little time. I know people are upset.”
This morning, Fox said Dominion Energy had 92 power outage projects it was working on.
Most of those outages are centered in Del Ray and Arlandria, which together account for 592 outages. There are also 133 customers without power in the Taylor Run neighborhood.
The outages brought to mind old concerns about Dominion Energy’s local utility grid. While Dominion had previously tried to claim power outages were a fluke, in March, Dominion Energy said it would invest $17 million in the city to improve reliability. Those improvements could take up to three years, however, while outages continue.
This is unacceptable, @DominionEnergy . 6+ hours and counting without power and no estimated restoration time in #DelRay. @PeggyDomEnergy @wtop @nbcwashington @wusa9 @AlexandriaVAGov @7NewsDC
— Douglas F. Rosenthal (@TromboneDoug) May 23, 2022
Image via Dominion Energy
Two Alexandria City Public Schools have switched to virtual classes due to widespread power outages around the city after a storm Sunday night.
Alexandria City High School’s King Street campus (ACHS) and Charles Barrett Elementary School have both switched to asynchronous virtual learning, meaning classes are being switched to online rather than in-person.
Currently, around 2000 people across Alexandria are without power. Over one-third of those, around 750 people, are in the West End near John Adams Elementary School. There are also around 342 households without power in Del Ray. Families without power are also, obviously, unlikely to be able to access virtual classes.
Still out in Del Ray with no indication on outage map and no estimate for restored power
— Del Ray 123 (@DelRay1231) May 23, 2022
“There continues to be a power outage at the King Street Campus of Alexandria City High School (ACHS) and at Charles Barrett Elementary School today, Monday, May 23, 2022 from the storm last night,” ACPS said in a release. “Both schools will use asynchronous virtual learning for the day. Students should log into Canvas or Clever for more information on specific activities and assignments.”
The ongoing outages also raised old concerns about Dominion Energy’s local utility grid. Dominion had previously tried to claim power outages were a fluke, a claim proven as untrue after the city was repeatedly hit by widespread power outages over the next year. In March, Dominion Energy said it would invest $17 million in the city to improve reliability, but that could take at least three years.
https://twitter.com/meronneva/status/1528706930587357185
Five months after a 16-hour power outage disrupted Del Ray’s Art On The Avenue festival, Dominion Energy says it will invest $17 million over the next three years to improve reliability in the city.
That was the gist of an hour-long update from Dominion to City Council Tuesday night (March 22), where Bill Murray, Dominion’s senior vice president of corporate affairs and communications, informed City Council that the energy giant plans on spending $3.4 million this year, $8.5 million in 2023 and $5.2 million in 2023 on 20 “incremental reliability investments” in areas affected by outages in Alexandria, and will begin planning with city staff next month.
“We’re going to plan in April to have some workshops with your staff around the first five,” Murray said.
There have been few outages in Alexandria since Art On The Avenue on Oct. 2 — forcing businesses to close for the the busiest day of the year on Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray. The weather was nearly perfect that day, with clear blue skies. Since the event, Murray said, Dominion has replaced 1,000 feet of power cables in the area, and will give future Art On The Avenue festivals the same attention as it gives to polling places on Election Day.
“Any of your polling places, regardless of the weather forecast on Election Day, whether it’s bad weather, good weather, whatever it might be, we always have a plan for each individual polling precinct,” Murray said. “We recognize things happen, and we don’t want the marching democracy being interrupted by an outage. So, we’re going to adopt that approach with this particular festival.”
Dominion did not present a PowerPoint presentation to City Council, and did not present details on which areas of the city need improvement, which irked some members.
“I’ll be honest, we were a little hampered by not having something to kind of look at tonight,” said Mayor Justin Wilson, who has been critical of Dominion for years.
Council Member Kirk McPike said that a PowerPoint presentation would have been useful after “repeated failures of our electrical system over the years.”
“We need the people of Alexandria to be able to see what we’re discussing here, what point you’re raising, have a better sense of what’s going on here,” McPike said. “Right now I don’t think they do.”
Dominion last spoke with the council shortly after the Art On The Avenue outage, and provided the city with maps on where it plans on making improvements in the city.
Council Member Alyia Gaskins said she appreciates Dominion’s plan to prevent an Art On The Avenue outage from reoccurring, but that the city hosts multiple large-scale events throughout the year.
“I’m also thinking about the fact that we have so many big, really important events in the city, beyond Art On The Avenue, and that was catastrophic and devastating,” Gaskins said. “Maybe there’s a top five list of events that we know are huge economic generators for the city, and having that same type of pre-scan, pre-assessment, as well as a point person who is on-site would be critical for those events as well.”
Vice Mayor Amy Jackson said that Dominion is a valuable partner, and that she would appreciate its representatives to be on the ground for large festivals.
“I don’t know how you would have enough manpower and boots on the ground to do that for every festival,” Jackson said. “That’s close to impossible, but I’d like to see you try. If you’re promising one to Art On The Avenue, then then absolutely, I’ll take you up on all of them. We’ll give you the calendar.”
The big story this week was snow.
A snowstorm on Monday had the city working at clearing roads and putting weather-affected services back into play. There was a smaller dusting of snow last night, though it didn’t have nearly the same level of impact.
Alexandria City Public Schools went virtual for the first three days of the week as well. Thursday was closed for students as a teacher workday, and both teachers and staff had today off.
Of course, Alexandria wasn’t alone in dealing with the snowstorm: similar operations were underway this week in Arlington and Fairfax.
Top Stories:
- Comcast working on fixing widespread internet service outages caused by fire and snowstorm
- JUST IN: Officials investigate fire at Jordan Street 7-Eleven
- PHOTOS: Scenes from today’s snowstorm in Alexandria
- Winter Weather Advisory issued ahead of Thursday night snow
- Power outage hits North Ridge neighborhood as weather topples trees and power lines
- DEVELOPING: Winter weather conditions shut down city services and some streets
- ACPS cancels school in Alexandria for students, but staff will have a virtual workday
- School closed tomorrow as students and staff both get proper snow day
- ACPS goes to virtual schooling Monday ahead of expected snow
- Alexandria Restaurant Week returns this month with new dining options
(Updated 3:40 p.m.) Internet service is down for many Alexandrians as Comcast works to get its network up and running again after yesterday’s snowstorm.
According to the Xfinity outage map, there are several thousand Alexandria affected by the ongoing internet outage, most of them in Del Ray and Arlandria.
Yesterday, Alexandria emergency services were hit with downed power lines city-wide, closing streets and causing localized power outages. Kristie Fox, vice president of communications for the Comcast Beltway Region, said that the internet service is dealing with a combination of local power outages and damage to a fiber cable in the area.
“Separately from the overall winter storm power outages, there was a power line that fell on our fiber today as a result of the storm and that caused a fire that is also impacting our service,” Fox said. “We’re having multiple crews on-site working to restore service.”
Del Ray resident Mark Stephenson said that last night around 8:30 p.m. one of the power lines between Rosemont and Del Ray was damaged. Stephenson noted that work crews from Dominion Energy responded quickly and have been working on repairs.
“Around 8:30 p.m. there was a huge boom and flash of light which we thought at first was a tree falling, but then I could see some flames on a line,” Stephenson said. “It seemed a heavy branch had fallen on the line. We called the fire department who came out almost immediately to rope off the street, along with APD. Then around 9:30 it happened again, and that’s when the internet went down.”
As of this afternoon, Stephenson said he was watching as a team from Xfinity was working to repair around 400 feet of cable.
In addition to the fiber damage, Fox said there can be some confusion about how power outages impact internet service.
“Once power is restored to home, internet can be restored, but power needs to come on first,” Fox said, “and even though power might be restored to an individual home, it might not be restored to a Comcast distribution point that serves a neighborhood. There could be instances where one person on a street and a neighbor down the block doesn’t because of a distribution point.”
Some locals on Twitter said they’ve seen 4 p.m. as an estimated restoration time, but Fox was hesitant to put an exact estimated time for repairs because it could vary from household to household.
“Some of it will be dependent on whether it was customers affected by fire in one area or the broader storm,” Fox said.
Thank a lineman today.
Appreciate all the hard work from @DominionEnergy here in @AlexandriaVAGov and the @AlexandriaVAPD and @AlexandriaVAFD for blocking off a main road all night to keep us safe.
This was a line on fire that was burning all night. pic.twitter.com/7khmp5Sgzt
— Mark Stephenson (@markjstephenson) January 4, 2022
