Updated at 5 p.m. on 9/4/19 — Power was restored at 1:27 a.m. this morning (Wednesday). “The outage was caused when a third-party, non-Dominion contractor cut into one of our energized cables,” a Dominion Energy spokesperson said.
Updated at 5:15 p.m. — Battalion Chief Steve McFarland told Tysons Reporter that said that the three workers were injured while installing a conduit box and that the power outage resulted because of the incident.
Updated at 4 p.m. — Three people were injured in an electrical incident at a job site in the 8200 block of Greensboro Drive, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue tweeted.
One person was transported by the Fairfax County Police Department’s helicopter to a local burn center, while the other two people were driven to a local hospital.
The Fairfax County Police Department tweeted that the three people had non-life threatening injuries.
Sgt. Greg Bedor, a police spokesperson, told Tysons Reporter that the police department received the call about the incident at 3:30 p.m.
Units are on scene in the 8200 block of Greensboro Drive with three patients who were electrocuted. One transported by @FairfaxCountyPD Helicopter to local burn center. Two transported by ground to area hospital. #FCFRD #FairfaxCounty pic.twitter.com/anISDlBcIs
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) September 3, 2019
Earlier: More than a thousand people are without power along Greensboro Drive in Tysons this afternoon (Tuesday).
The outage spans east of the Greensboro to the Spring Hill Metro stations along Greensboro Drive and is affecting 1,555 customers, according to the Dominion Energy power outage map.
An employee at United Bank told Tysons Reporter that she heard what sounded like an explosion before the power went out around 3:30 p.m. — it is unclear if the loud sound is connected to the outage.
Dominion Energy expects power to be restored between 5-10 p.m. today (Sept. 3).
The cause of the outage is “pending investigation,” according to Dominion Energy.
The traffic signal is out at the intersection of International and Westpark drives, according to Fairfax County. The Fairfax County Police Department tweeted that traffic lights are out at Greensboro and Westpark drives.
Traffic lights are out at Greensboro Dr./Westpark Dr. Our motor units are working to have the lights restored as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience – please stay clear of the area! #FCPD pic.twitter.com/0XGdZFPOuN
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) September 3, 2019
Map via Dominion Energy
Jay Westcott contributed to this story
After severe thunderstorms hit the area last night, around 100 people are left without electricity in Vienna.
Over by Maple Avenue and Lawyers Road NW, 56 customers are without power, while 57 people are left in the dark east of Wildwood Park. Both outages are due to power line damage, according to Dominion Energy.
Dominion Energy expects power to be restored between 10 a.m.-1 p.m. today (Aug. 20) for both spots.
Maps via Dominion Energy
Roughly 4,000 people in McLean have lost power this evening (Wednesday) right after a storm hit the area.
A Dominion Energy map shows five major power outages. One is west of I-495 above Odricks Corner that is affecting 1,076 customers.
The other four are around Old Dominion Road in the Chesterbrook area — the largest of which was caused by a circuit outage and is impacting 1,237 people, according to the map.
Investigations are pending for the three others ones, which, in total, have left a little more than 2,000 people in the dark.
Dominion Energy does not yet have estimated times for when the power will be restored for the outages.
Several smaller outages affecting 14 people or less are scattered throughout McLean, Vienna, Tysons, Falls Church and Merrifield.
The outages popped up on the map shortly after the National Weather Service issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch, followed by a storm that quickly passed through the Tysons area shortly after 5 p.m.
Map via Dominion Energy
Dominion Energy is making repairs and installing equipment in the Town of Vienna to prevent a power surge like the one that affected several neighborhoods shortly after midnight last Tuesday (July 2).
“According to our information from Dominion, the surge was caused when, shortly after midnight on July 2, an old cross-arm broke causing a high voltage line to dip into a low voltage line,” Lynne Coan, a spokeswoman for the Town of Vienna, told Tysons Reporter.
When the cross-arm broke, the high voltage line dipped into a low voltage line.
Dominion Energy crews repaired the cross-arm and have plans to install “overvoltage arresters” to prevent similar events in the future, she said.
In a Facebook post on Friday (July 5), the Town of Vienna wrote that the southwest area of town experienced “overvoltage or an extreme electrical surge similar to a lightning strike.”
Coan said that the surge affected more than 100 homes, including the King Crest, Vienna Woods and Willow Estates neighborhoods.
Several people claiming to be victims of the power surge wrote under the town’s Facebook post about how the surge impacted them.
“We lost one of our A/C units, our refrigerator/freezer, humidifier, a TV, about four outlets and our washer,” one person wrote. “We were out on vacation last week and came back to this mess.”
Another wrote that the surge “blew a breaker fuse and my $100 Keurig wouldn’t work.”
Tysons Reporter has not heard back from Dominion Energy about questions including how strong the surge was.
Residents who wish to file a claim for damaged electrical appliances can call 1-866-366-4357.
Updated at 2:00 p.m. — The power outages above Wolf Trap and east of Langley Fork Park are now resolved. A new power outage popped up by Great Falls Street and Swinks Mill Road affecting 26 people. Power is expected to be restored between 4-9 p.m. today, according to Dominion.
Earlier: After a morning of violent rain and flooding, around 150 people are left without electricity in the McLean area.
Over by Langley Fork Park, 31 customers are without power because of the storm. Dominion Energy expects power to be restored between 1-6 p.m. today (July 8).
West of Pimmit Park, there are still around 48 people without power. The Dominion Energy map said the outage was caused by a “broken pole.” Crews arrived around 11 a.m. to begin work and people can expect their power to be back between 3-8 p.m.
North of Wolf Trap and just south of Old Dominion Drive, 78 customers don’t have power. The cause is to be determined by the investigation. Dominion expects power to be restored there between 2-7 p.m.
Several other outages affecting nine or fewer people are scattered throughout McLean and Falls Church.
Earlier today, media relations for Dominion Energy said that around 12:30 p.m. the site of a larger power outage was inaccessible to crews because of road washout. That outage was cleared up before 1 p.m.
Anyone without power can report new outages to Dominion Energy at 866-366-4357 or on their website.
Maps via Dominion Energy
More than 600 residents in McLean are without power after a tree fell on the power lines.
The Dominion Energy map shows about a power outage in the western portion of McLean encompassing the area around and including Lewinsville Park as of 8:45 a.m. today (July 3). The outage is affecting 638 customers.
Dominion has crews dispatched to the area and expects that power will be restored later today between 2-9 p.m.
Map via Dominion Energy
A proposal to launch an autonomous shuttle program in Merrifield was awarded a state grant, making it the first state-funded pilot of its kind in Virginia.
The Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board approved $250,000 in grant funding for Fairfax County to test driverless technology in public transportation, according to a press release. Fairfax County will provide $50,000 in local match funding to the pilot.
The program was the topic of extensive discussion at a Fairfax County Board of Supervisors work session yesterday (Tuesday). The pilot project will have an autonomous shuttle running from the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro station to the Mosaic District, closing a 1-mile transit gap between the two locations.
The project is a collaboration between Fairfax County and Dominion Energy, which would identify, select and purchase the shuttles.
The shuttle would be free to ride with no ticket or pass needed.
The work session included a discussion of safety challenges related to operating an autonomous shuttle, particularly the challenge of getting the shuttle across Lee Highway. The press release noted that the shuttles will undergo extensive testing before passenger service can begin and a safety steward will be on board to monitor operations.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is set to consider the formal partnership agreement at the Tuesday, June 25, Board of Supervisors meeting.
Rendering via Optimus Ride
Dominion Energy will have to wait another month at least before it can look at rebuilding its Tysons power station.
Approval of the station was deferred to June 25 at a Board of Supervisors meeting last week, the latest setback for the facility on Tyco Road in northern Tysons.
“The Dominion Power Station in Tysons will be deferred again,” Providence District Supervisor Linda Smyth said. “We are in the midst of some interesting legal discussions about who gets the right to decide what sort of stormwater management they do, which is an interesting discussion.”
Dominion Energy plans to rebuild the station but has faced repeated delays throughout the process as the county works through how Dominion’s designs will impact nearby traffic projects and neighbors.
The staff report on the project notes that the site, which is almost entirely covered with concrete, deviates from the full inch of stormwater infiltration required in the Tysons Comprehensive Stormwater Management Plan.
“Opportunities for infiltration on this site are limited as infiltration is not practical within the fenced substation confines,” staff said in the report.
Smyth could not be reached for comment, but Dominion Energy spokesperson Charles Penn said delays to sort out the minutia of power stations are not unusual.
“From a regulatory standpoint, Dominion Energy’s projects almost always involve an intersection of federal, state and local laws and regulations,” Penn said. “In this instance, we are working with the county and certain state agencies to accurately confirm where the regulatory responsibility rests with respect to certain engineering details of the substation that will be reviewed after the special exception process is complete.”
Smyth also noted at the meeting that the June 25 meeting will be jam-packed with public hearings, to which Chairwoman Sharon Bulova advised her colleagues to bring sleeping bags.
The aftermath of the storm yesterday (Thursday) has left more than 1,300 residents around Falls Church without power and caused several road closures.
The Dominion Energy map shows two power outages currently in Falls Church as of 10:45 a.m. today (May 24) — one affecting 1,009 customers from West Street to Lincoln Avenue and another one affecting 324 customers around Shreve Road above Jefferson District Park.
Dominion expects that power will be restored later tonight for both outages between 6-11 p.m.
Several roads in Dunn Loring and Falls Church were still closed as of 8:33 a.m., according to a released list from the Fairfax County Police Department. FCPD will update the list throughout the day.
The following roads closed in FCPD’s McLean District are:
- Winder and Drexel streets
- Jefferson and Woodlawn avenues
- Elmwood and Stuart drives
- Marshall Street between Jefferson and Farragut avenues
- Woodley Place between Lee Hwy and Deborah Drive
- 2900 block of Rogers Drive
- 2900 block of Wallace Drive
- 2700 block of Greenway Blvd
Local storm reports from the National Weather Service yesterday around 7:30 p.m. reported “a tree uprooted and many large branches snapped” by the intersection of Route 50 and I-495, a large fallen tree blocking Summerfield Road and S. Washington Street and “downed wires and trees” near Jackson Avenue and Summerfield Road.
A few people took to Twitter to share a video of the thunderstorm in Tysons yesterday and spottings of downed trees and power lines.
Thunderstorm rolling into Tysons Corner and the W2 Communications offices ⛈⚡️ @capitalweather pic.twitter.com/ixp67wIS2D
— W2 Communications (@W2Comm) May 23, 2019
Driving from Merrifield to Tysons and seeing a ton of downed limbs and branches. Winds here were legit during yesterday’s storms
— Andrew King (@H2Omaker71) May 24, 2019
Map via Dominion Energy
As a storm moves through the area, some residents in McLean are impacted by fallen trees and power outages.
A preliminary local storm report from the National Weather Service says that there is a “tree down with power lines down on Spring Vale Avenue.” ABC 7 meteorologist Alex Liggitt tweeted that trees are down in McLean.
Another NWS report says wind damage was reported in Tysons.
The Dominion Energy map shows two power outages currently in McLean as of 4:50 p.m. today (May 2) — one affecting 30 customers by the Old Dominion School Site Park and another one affecting 61 customers in between Scott’s Run Nature Preserve and I-495.
Dominion expects that power will be restored later tonight for both outages — between 7-10 p.m. for the Old Dominion area and between 8-11 p.m. for the one by the American Legion Bridge.
53 mph wind gust right by the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. Trees down in McLean, VA and Rockville, MD so far. Let me know if you have any reports!
— Alex Liggitt (@AlexLiggittWX) May 2, 2019
First map via Google Maps and second map via Dominion Energy
