Pepco Locates, Repairs Power-Line Issue After Weeks of Greenbelt Flickering

Pepco located and repaired a local power line issue that residents said produced weeks of repeated flickering lights, dimming and damage to LED bulbs in Greenbelt, with repairs completed on Jan. 12, 2026. The utility says the system has been operating normally since the repair, but Laurel Hill homeowners and other residents want clearer answers about the scope and cause.

Residents reported disturbances beginning in December 2025 and continuing into early January. A Laurel Hill resident using a Ting electrical sensor recorded numerous brownout alerts, with December 23 showing the most alerts and January 10 the latest alert. University of Maryland journalism student Laura Charleston, interning with the Greenbelt News Review, described the household experience this way: “These ongoing brownouts and little power surges, it just seemed to be hitting a wide swath of people.”

Pepco’s senior communications specialist Rodney Wilson acknowledged some customers noticed flickering and said crews found and fixed the source. “Some customers may have noticed brief instances of light flickering earlier this month, which was caused by a minor issue on a local power line,” Wilson said. “Our crews mobilized quickly to identify the source and completed repairs in early January.” He added, “There have been no brownouts in the Greenbelt or Riverdale communities,” and that “the system has been operating normally with no related issues reported.”

Greenbelt City Manager Josué Salmerón is coordinating with Pepco as the city follows the situation. City leaders and residents are seeking specifics on how many customers were affected, the exact failure mode that damaged LEDs, and whether the utility will offer replacements or other remediation.

Pepco communications also describe significant, ongoing work at a separate Washington, D.C., facility. A Pepco situation overview about equipment failures at the 22nd Street substation said, “On Tuesday evening, July 15, Pepco experienced multiple equipment failures on sources to the 22nd Street substation causing increased load on the system.” Operational posts noted that “Pepco crews continue work to address electric issues at our substation on 22nd St NW in Washington, D.C. Work on impacted equipment is expected to continue over the coming weeks, and the 22nd St. substation will be out of normal configuration until that time.” The update added a technical explanation for cable failures: “The underground cables impacted by this incident are oil-filled and pressurized to help protect them from environmental impacts. When the initial equipment failure occurred, it created a hole in the cable. This hole allowed water to enter the cable, impacting a long span of underground cable, stretching multiple blocks of 11th Street NW. As a result, all of the impacted cable must be pulled from the manholes and be fully replaced.” Brookepintodc posts signed “Yours in Service, Brooke” reported crews restoring impacted customers “around 3:30 p.m.” while traffic control and cable replacement work continues in DC.

The materials do not explicitly link the 22nd Street substation and 11th Street NW cable replacements to Greenbelt’s December-January disturbances. For Greenbelt residents, the immediate good news is that Pepco says its local repair was completed Jan. 12 and monitoring shows no new related issues. Going forward, residents should report continued flicker or equipment damage to Pepco and to City Manager Josué Salmerón so officials can press for full timelines, customer counts, and any compensation for damaged devices.