Two power outages are currently impacting more than 2,500 Dominion Energy customers along the Dulles Toll Road and I-66 in the McLean area.
One outage, which is affecting 1,721 customers, stretches from Route 123 to the East Falls Church Metro station on the eastern side of the Dulles Toll Road.
Meanwhile, the other one is just above the West Falls Church Metro station — where I-66 and the Dulles Toll Road connect. That outage is impacting 824 customers.
Tropical Storm Isaias caused both of the outages, according to Dominion Energy’s power outage map. Dominion Energy anticipates the power will be restored between noon-5 p.m.
Map via Dominion Energy
“Relay,” a new autonomous electric shuttle, made its first test run throughout Merrifield’s Mosaic District yesterday.
Relay is a free, driverless transportation option that will take people from the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro Station to the Mosaic District.
Yesterday’s testing was the beginning of a mapping process to teach the vehicle its route. In the learning process, the shuttle needs to stay on its route down to the millimeter, according to Dominion Energy’s Innovation Strategist Julie Manzari.
Testing and mapping usually take a few weeks or more with autonomous shuttles depending on the complicated nature of the route, according to Manzari. The route Relay will be taking is especially interesting due to busy roads.
The project was launched by Fairfax County and Dominion Energy in partnership with EDENS, Virginia’s Department of Rail and Public Transportation and Department of Transportation, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and George Mason University.
Transdev will be in charge of the management and maintenance of the vehicle, which was made by EasyMile, according to the county’s website.
In a YouTube video, EasyMile engineer Nathan Ramsey said that the shuttle has several different braking systems, uses GPS and has a LiDAR system, which observes the environment with infrared lasers.
“Using LiDAR, the vehicle can’t miss objects. It will see everything around it, and it will respond accordingly,” Ramsey said. “So if it needs to slow down or stop because somebody runs out in front of it — even if they dart out in front of it just a couple, mere feet — the vehicle will have no trouble stopping or slowing.”
Ramsey said that he believes the shuttle is safer than human drivers, noting that the technology can respond safely to human error.
The shuttle will be enforcing mask requirements and separation as much as possible to ensure COVID-19 safety. They plan on keeping a seat between each passenger and requiring passengers to wear their seatbelts, according to Manzari.
“We have a lot of enthusiasm around the project,” said Manzari. “People are very curious about autonomous vehicles.”
Photo courtesy Peggy Fox/Dominion Energy
Power outages are affecting roughly 1,500 Dominion Energy customers in the Falls Church area today.
The larger outage stretches from the Westwood Park to Williamsburg neighborhoods, according to Dominion Energy’s power outage map. The smaller one is between Shreve and Graham roads.
The causes of the outages have not been determined yet. Dominion Energy expects power to be restored between 6-9 p.m.
Map via Dominion Energy
Dominion Energy plans to roll out an autonomous, electric shuttle named “Relay” for testing in Merrifield as early as next week.
The self-driving shuttle will make a loop between the Mosaic District to the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro station. Fairfax County and Dominion Energy teamed up last year to start the pilot program to improve connectivity between the station and the shopping center, which are just under one mile apart according to Google Maps.
Peggy Fox, Dominion Energy’s spokesperson, told Tysons Reporter that testing is expected to start soon on the pre-mapped route. “It will be several weeks before we’re able to accept passengers,” Fox said.
Currently, the autonomous shuttle, which was made by the French company EasyMile, is in Alexandria awaiting its move to Merrifield next week, Fox said.
According to Dominion Energy, Relay is the first test of autonomous public transportation in Northern Virginia.
Photos courtesy Dominion Energy
Rental Assistance — “An association representing landlords and property managers across Northern Virginia is advocating for tenants to seek rental assistance if they’re facing financial hardships due to the coronavirus pandemic.” [Patch]
Food Insecurity — “Up to a quarter of a million people in the Washington area could be thrown into hunger because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to a report by the Capital Area Food Bank, even as the amount of donated food and the number of distribution sites plummet precipitously.” [Washington Post]
Power Still Out — Dominion Energy is working to resolve several power outages in the Tysons area after last night’s storm affected thousands of customers. As of 9:15 a.m., 213 customers are without power in Pimmit Hills and 323 are without power in Falls Church. [Dominion Energy]
New Local School Head — “Ever since Gretchen Warner took over July 1 as The Madeira School’s 10th head of school, she hasn’t had the luxury of a honeymoon period with students and staff.” [Inside NoVa]
Several areas around Tysons have power outages affecting thousands of Dominion Energy customers as heavy rain and thunderstorms hit the area.
As of 4:15 p.m., the Vienna, Merrifield and McLean areas had three large outages, according to Dominion Energy’s power outage map.
One stretching from Wolf Trap to Odricks Corner is impacting 856 customers due to a circuit outage. Another running along Lawyers Road from Clarks Crossing Park to Malcolm Road NW is affecting 381 customers. The third — and largest — one has left 3,554 customers from Fairlee to Dunn Loring without power.
In total, roughly 4,700 Dominion Energy customers are without power in the area.
Dominion Energy does not yet have an estimated time for when the outages will be resolved.
Currently, the Tysons area is under a Flash Flood Warning until 6:30 p.m.
Maps via Dominion Energy
A power outage is impacting hundreds of Dominion Energy customers between Wolf Trap and Leesburg Pike.
Dominion’s power outage map says that 575 customers are affected by the outage, which spans from the McLean Bible Church down past the Dulles Toll Road. Dominion expects power to be returned sometime between 7-10 p.m.
Fairfax County put out a traffic advisory around 3:40 p.m. warning people to expect delays at Leesburg Pike and Trap Road. Police tweeted that Leesburg Pike is currently closed in both directions.
Downed lines from a broken pole are behind the road closure and power outage.
TRAFFIC ALERT: Leesburg Pike is closed in both directions near Trap Road in Vienna due to downed wires. Please use an alternate route. #FCPD pic.twitter.com/4G1WU8TYny
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) June 17, 2020
Map via Dominion Energy
Park Party Is Over — “A video supplied by a local resident showed throngs of bathing-suit-clad youths cavorting and whooping it up and swigging alcohol at the park’s scenic waterfall… Fairfax County Park Authority officials are beefing up police presence at [Scotts Run Nature Preserve], and authorities soon will be prohibiting parking along Georgetown Pike and some nearby neighborhood streets.” [Inside NoVa]
Empty Offices — “Many companies in the county are likely to shrink their footprints to account for increased remote work, according to surveys the FCEDA has tracked, while others that may have been considering a move to Fairfax have put those searches on hold, [Victor] Hoskins said. The county’s office vacancy rate stood at 13.9% at the end of 2019, according to the county’s 2021 budget plan.” [Washington Business Journal]
Vienna Hit With Power Outage — Thunderstorms last night swept across Northern Virginia. Dominion Energy has now resolved a power outage that was affecting over 1,700 customers around 8 p.m. in the Vienna area. It was caused by a circuit outage, according to Dominion. [Dominion Energy]
ICYMI: Protest Held in McLean — “Hundreds of people chanted and marched in a Black Lives Matter protest led by six McLean High School students on Wednesday.” [Tysons Reporter]
Join our Executive Director @LJCarbonneau for this Community Conversation on how the arts & cultural organizations in the Tysons area are planning in this uncertain environment. @TysonsVAPatch @mcleanvacenter @TysonsReporter @sungazettenews @DranesvilleSup @artsfairfax https://t.co/Z9re3W3thV
— McLeanProjectForArts (@MP4A) June 10, 2020
New Unemployment Numbers for Fairfax County — “With 629,185 county residents in the civilian workforce and 16,992 looking for jobs, the county’s unemployment rate of 2.6 percent was up from 2.1 percent in February, according to figures reported April 29 by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.” [Inside NoVa]
Falls Church Senior Home Needs Masks — “The Kensington Falls Church is asking community members to sew surgical gowns for use by its staff.” [Falls Church News-Press]
Electric Bills Going Down — “Most Dominion Energy residential customers should see their bills drop in May, according to a Thursday news release from the company. The reduction will be around $6 per month for the ‘average residential customer,’ the release said.” [The Virginian-Pilot]
Create a Love Letter to Tysons — “Tysons Reporter is looking for video submissions of verbal ‘love letters’ to neighbors around the Tysons area.” [Tysons Reporter]
Small Business Loan Success — The Fairfax County Economic Authority interviewed the owner of Tysons-based Falcon Labs on what it was like getting a PPP loan. [FCEDA]
As concerns grow about the coronavirus, state and county officials, along with Dominion Energy, want residents to beware scams related to the virus.
“As the coronavirus public health emergency continues, scam artists are taking advantage [of] the situation,” one of the many alerts from Fairfax County said.
Coronavirus Scam Prevention
Due to Virginia’s declared state of emergency, the county noted that it is unlawful of suppliers to sell, lease or license any necessary goods and services “at an unconscionable price.”
As of yesterday (Tuesday), spokespeople for Fairfax County and FCPD haven’t received any reports about scams related to the coronavirus.
Earlier in March, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring urged residents to be wary of coronavirus scams, which could include products for sale claiming to prevent the virus, misinformation or fake solicitations for coronavirus victims, according to a press release.
“Unfortunately, scammers oftentimes take advantage of natural disasters or public health fears like the coronavirus to make a buck,” Herring said in the press release.
The press release offered tips for people to combat scams:
- Look out for emails that claim to be from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or experts saying that they have information about the coronavirus. For the most updated information you can visit the CDC and the World Health Organization websites.
- Do not click on any links from unknown sources. This could lead to downloading a virus on your computer or phone.
- Ignore any offers, online or otherwise, for a coronavirus vaccine. If you see any advertisements for prevention, treatment or cures ask the question: if there had been a cure for the disease would you be hearing about that through an advertisement or sales pitch?
- Thoroughly research any organizations or charities purporting to be raising funds for victims of the coronavirus.
- Look out for “investment opportunities” surrounding the coronavirus. According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission there are online promotions claiming the products or services of certain publicly-traded companies can prevent, detect, or cure the disease and that the stock of these companies will dramatically increase because of that.
“It is so important that Virginians stay vigilant and do their research before giving their money to anyone purporting to sell preventative medications or raising funds for victims,” Herring said.
Scams Often Target Seniors
Dominion Energy is working with police to get the scammers’ phone numbers shut down, according to Peggy Fox, a Dominion Energy spokesperson.
“Dominion Energy will never make threatening phone calls, demand you pay over the phone or ask you to pay with prepaid cards,” Fox said.
Often, the scammers — claiming to be from Dominion Energy — will call people and threaten to cut off service if payments aren’t made immediately, Fox said.
“They direct their victims to another number and when you call it (which I have) you may hear our Dominion Energy voice recording — which they’ve stolen,” Fox said, adding that they will also tell people to buy pre-paid cards for payment.
Tips from Dominion Energy on how to spot scams:
- While robocall scams can be relatively easy to spot, effective scammers continue to make personal phone calls. Some scammers may employ scare tactics, while others will try to gain your trust by sounding friendly and sympathetic.
- Many utility scammers try to instill fear and a sense of urgency by threatening immediate service disconnection if you don’t provide payment information over the phone or agree to pay your energy bill with a prepaid debit or gift card.
- Dominion Energy does not make calls requesting immediate payment or require customers to pay with prepaid cards of any kind.
- Some utility impostors may falsify their caller ID to appear they are using a local number or even Dominion Energy’s customer service number. When in doubt, hang up and call the number located on your energy bill.
- Don’t let anyone into your home unless you have a previously scheduled appointment or have called about an issue. Always check for proper identification before letting personnel in. Additionally, utility workers won’t ask you to pay an energy bill in person.
- Hang up. Customers can always verify their account balance and payment due date by signing into their dominionenergy.com account or calling 1-866-DOM-HELP (1-866-366-4357).
“These scams are widespread in each of the 18 states we serve. They’re relentless in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, where we provide electrical service,” Fox said, adding that they often target seniors.
Additionally, Dominion Energy is waiving reconnection and late fees, along with donating $1 million to relief organizations to help people impacted by the coronavirus.
Suspect It’s a Scammer?
So what happens if a scammer calls? Hang up and call these places.
People who have questions or concerns about scams can contact the attorney general’s Consumer Protection Section at 800-552-9963 or the county’s Consumer Affairs Branch at 703-222‐8435, TTY 711.
People who think they’ve received a scam call regarding Dominion Energy should hang up and report the calls to Dominion Energy and the police.
Photo by Jonah Pettrich on Unsplash
