Washington, D.C. power outage today: Smoke comes out of manholes in Foggy Bottom neighbourhood just 1 day before U.S. midterm elections 2026 | 2 Nov 2026 | Washington, D.C. faced a long power cut after smoke was reported to come out from several manholes in the Foggy Bottom area on Monday. Over 1,100 customers were impacted. The power cut occurred due to a power outage at a substation. The George Washington University (GWU) and other government buildings were affected. Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco) said that they were investigating the cause of the power cut. Fire and emergency services attended the smoke coming out of manholes. All of this happened just one day before the U.S. midterm elections 2026 on Tuesday.