“Dear PoPville,
I live in a rowhouse that’s been converted into two condo units. Pepco runs three electrical meters to the property, one to each unit and the third to the common area, which is a small foyer with a single interior light fixture. We barely use this light (last month the actual usage was zero), but every month, the bill for the common meter includes a “Customer Charge” of $38.75. (more…)
4th and Massachusetts Ave, NW
Sunday morning APN wrote us around 7:45am: “I saw a massive explosion on 4th and Mass Ave NW this morning. Fireball as tall as the building. Maybe a manhole?”
Phil wrote: “I think we live in the same building. For reals shook it. I heard the concussion and then the secondary echo off nearby buildings. Massive.” (more…)
“Dear PoPville,
I have a question about overnight water shut offs. DC Water shut the water off Friday for 4 hours during the day for emergency repairs, which was fine because it’s easy enough to go to the office or use public bathrooms during the day, but now they’re going to shut it off for 8 hours overnight, (more…)
photo by Tim Brown
“Dear PoPville,
As an FYI, I’ve been repeatedly contacting DC Water and DOEEE about what the timeline for lead replacement of the main (and private) water lines are like in DC.
I’ve been contacted by contractors asking us to pay them >$15K to replace our private lead lines that come up to the house from the street. After some digging, I found that all public lead water lines are promised to be replaced by 2030 (and potentially many private lines), but the funding falls far short of getting it done anytime close to then. (more…)
Update: “PEPCO reports all power is now restored in the Northwest area of 16th & Columbia Road.”
From AlertDC: “PEPCO reports a power outage in the vicinity of 16th Street and Columbia Road, NW, affecting the Cardozo, Columbia Heights, Lanier Heights, and Mount Pleasant neighborhoods. The estimated restoration time is 3PM. Affected customers can contact PEPCO on 1-877-737-2662.” (more…)
“Dear PoPville,
Our Adams Morgan condo has been without power since Saturday afternoon–we have lights and a few outlets, but one of the two incoming lines is dead and as a result, we are without heat and hot water.
We had an electrician on-site on Saturday–he told us to call Pepco. Pepco came out, took some readings, and told us to get our building electrician involved. That electrician came out yesterday and said they couldn’t do anything until Pepco removed the locks on our meter and the three meters connected to ours (it’s a medium-sized, self-managed condo building). (more…)
“Dear PoPville,
I have a PEPCO related question. I live in a small, four unit condo building with identical 1.5 bedroom (roughly 700 sq ft) condos. I got a PEPCO bill this month that was more than double my previous bill ($114). I have friends living in 2,000 sq ft that are paying less. (more…)
Cheryl asks DC Water: “is the dirt in my home’s water connected to road work in 1400 Block of Florida NW?” (more…)
“Dear PoPville,
I received a “revised” bill from Pepco yesterday for $719. The bill does not seem to be a scam because I can find the statement on my Pepco account when I log-in; it looks like they are adding additional charges to my monthly electric bills going back to October 2020. (more…)
“Dear PoPville,
This is a bit long, but I’m reaching out to you about the water pipes in DC in hopes that a fellow Washingtonian might have successfully resolved a similar issue and could offer some guidance! As we hear from the water reports, DC Water has high standards for tap water, drinking straight out of the sink faucet is encouraged. DC Water provides annual water quality results, but data collection sample location is not clear. We stopped drinking the water because of the elevated iron levels. To “mitigate” the situation, DC Water flushes the main hydrant by our house multiple times a week to improve the iron (and chlorine levels), it doesn’t appear any solution such as replacement of corroded pipes (the culprit) will come in our lifetime. We don’t drink or cook with tap water and spend $300+ monthly on water delivery on top of the water consumption for laundry, showers etc. Below is the (long-ish) backstory, I hope to receive some much needed guidance! (more…)