Hundreds of homes and businesses in Richmond's Northside went dark Monday evening, leaving residents near the Robert E. Lee Bridge without electricity as crews worked to figure out what happened. Dominion Energy's outage map showed just under 700 customers affected in the area of S. Belvidere Street, and the utility said it could take hours before the lights came back on for everyone.
According to WRIC ABC 8News, Dominion Energy was still investigating the cause of the outage as of Monday night. The utility estimated that restoration would happen sometime between 10 p.m. Monday and 1 a.m. Tuesday, though by Tuesday that same estimate had narrowed to around 1 a.m.
Hours of Uncertainty for Northside Residents
For families and business owners in the affected stretch near S. Belvidere Street, Monday night meant an open-ended wait. Per Dominion Energy, it could take hours to restore customers' electricity, leaving the exact timeline uncertain even as the overnight estimate held at 1 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3.
The outage adds to what has already been a bumpy stretch for Richmond's power grid. Monday evening also saw a separate incident in which a vehicle crashed into a utility pole, cutting power to a Richmond Department of Utilities pump station and triggering low water pressure in parts of the city. It is not established whether that crash and the Northside outage near S. Belvidere Street were connected.
Vehicle Crash Knocked Out Power to a City Pump Station
That separate incident, first reported near Idlewood Avenue and Harrison Road, caused real concern for Richmond's water system. WRIC reported that Dominion's outage map showed around 700 homes and businesses without power in and around that area at about 8:15 p.m. Monday, a number that fell to just over 60 buildings by 8:30 p.m. A separate count from 12 On Your Side put the number affected by the pump-station outage at around 900 people, though the station's report does not reconcile that figure with WRIC's numbers.
12 On Your Side reported that the outage was caused when a vehicle struck a utility pole near the 400 block of South Harrison Street, knocking out power to the pump station. The same report says power was restored to the pump station around 8:40 p.m. Monday.
As water pressure dipped in parts of the city, Richmond's Department of Utilities moved to reassure residents. According to WTVR, DPU remained on generator power while Dominion Energy worked to restore commercial electrical service to the affected pump station, even as pressure began returning to normal in parts of Richmond.
No Boil-Water Advisory Issued
Despite the drop in pressure, city officials said the water supply never became unsafe. “The system pressure remained above 20 psi throughout the event, and the water supply remained safe for consumption,” a DPU spokesperson told WRIC, adding that there was no boil-water advisory associated with the incident.
Monday's Northside outage is not the first time a chunk of Richmond has gone dark without an immediately clear cause. Back on a Friday, May 2, around 758 Dominion Energy customers lost power near Scott's Addition around 11 a.m., an outage the utility attributed to an animal coming into contact with a power line, per WRIC's earlier report. Whether Monday's Northside outage near S. Belvidere Street traces back to equipment trouble, weather, or something else remains part of Dominion's ongoing investigation.
