MAKING YOUR ELECTRIC SYSTEM MORE RESILIENT.

The District of Columbia Power Line Undergrounding (DC PLUG) initiative is a partnership between the District and Pepco to improve the reliability and resiliency of the District of Columbia electric system by placing select systems underground. Click the video below to see what construction is going to look like on your street.

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The DC Power Line Undergrounding initiative (DC PLUG) is a partnership between the District and Pepco to improve the reliability and resiliency of the District of Columbia energy grid by placing select feeders underground in Wards 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8.

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The DC PLUG initiative has a long history, dating back to 2012 when then D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray established the Mayor’s Power Line Undergrounding Task Force (Task Force) following severe storms that caused days-long outages for portions of the District of Columbia. The Task Force determined that improvements to the District of Columbia’s electric distribution system to enhance its resiliency and reduce power outages caused by storms would require new investment. Pepco and the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) proposed what would become the DC PLUG initiative in response to the findings of the Task Force.

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Following the resolution of legal challenges to the program, current D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signed amended legislation into law allowing DDOT and Pepco to move forward with DC PLUG in May of 2017. DDOT and Pepco submitted their application for approval of the First Biennial Underground Infrastructure Improvement Projects Plan (Biennial Plan) to the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia on July 3, 2017. The Public Service Commission approved the joint application on Nov. 9, 2017.

 

Since the approval of the first Biennial Plan, the DC PLUG team has engaged District businesses regarding the project, hosted semi-annual meetings for stakeholders, and executed community outreach activities per the DC PLUG education plan. Feeder 308 in the American University Park neighborhood of Ward 3 was the first feeder placed underground and was completed in January 2021.