Update at 9:35 a.m. — Power has been restored, Dominion spokeswoman Le-Ha Anderson says. The outage was caused by a single, unlucky squirrel.
According to Anderson: “We had a squirrel get onto a piece of equipment which caused a power outage near Pershing Drive and Route 50 in Arlington. At 7:42 AM, 1,765 customers lost power as a result of the squirrel making contact with our equipment and becoming the path of least resistance for electricity to travel to ground.”
Earlier: Traffic lights are out at a number of busy Arlington intersections due to a widespread power outage.
Dominion reports that more than 1,800 customers are without power this morning. Power is expected to be restored between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m.
Traffic lights are reported to be dark at the following intersections:
- Route 50 and Pershing Drive
- Route 50 and Henderson Road
- George Mason Drive and Pershing Drive
- George Mason Drive and Henderson Road
- Four Mile Run Drive and Columbia Pike
Police are directing traffic at most, if not all, the above intersections.