Power Expected Back by Midnight at GSA, Other Agencies

By Joseph Marks

Washington's main electric utility provider expects to have power restored by midnight to three federal buildings and numerous homes near First Street in Northeast Washington, the company said Wednesday afternoon.

The outage shut off power throughout Wednesday at the General Services Administration, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Employees at those agencies were either working from home or on administrative leave, spokespeople said.

The electricity provider, Pepco, had identified a handful of damaged underground cables causing the outage by early Wednesday but only discovered a second group of damaged cables in the afternoon.