CAPITOL HILL CORNER

CIVIC on Barracks Row Is Open Tomorrow – Tuesday – at 8:00am

by Larry Janezich

Posted Monday, January 2, 2026

After a soft open last Thursday “CIVIC on 8^th” at 501 8th Street, SE, Rhonda Foxx’s new concept for a day time coffee bar/evening cocktail bar opens Tuesday, February 3.

Here’s a link to CIVIC’s coffee menu and coffee salon food menu:  https://www.salonforthecity.com/menu 

Cocktail salon menus are coming soon.  (Liquor license is pending.)

The Week Ahead…& Some Photos from the Past Week

by Larry Janezich

Posted February 1, 2026

Barracks Row MainStreet’s Brian Ready bids for elected office. Ready, former chair of ANC6B and current Executive Director of Barracks Row MainStreet, has launched a bid for DC’s US Shadow Representative.  Here he is outside of the Capitol Hill Trader Joe’s on Sunday afternoon collecting some of the 2,000 signatures he needs to get on the ballot for the primary election on June 16, 2026.   

Here’s a photo of two Bobcats clearing snow from an alley off 10^th Street SE, just after midnight early Saturday morning.  It took about 25 minutes to clear a path for trash removal from the alley for pickup which will start on Monday, February 2. 

The Up N’ Smoke weed dispensary building on Barracks Row is up for sale.  The property is being marketed at a $2.3 million price tag by Greysteel Real Estate.  According to the description, “The property is anchored by a nationally recognized tenant alongside established local businesses. This balanced mix provides a stable income stream while benefiting from the unique character associated with neighborhood retailers. Investors have the opportunity to enhance long-term value through additional development.”

Hill Center Galleries 2026 Regional Juried Show:  First Place.  Vugar Guliyev “Astral Drift” 2025, Oil on canvas. Photo: Hill Center

Hill Center Galleries 2026 Regional Juried Show.  Second Place.  Lakshmikant Gupta “Three Sisters” 2023, Color pencil on black paper. Photo: Hill Center.

Hill Center Galleries 2026 Regional Juried Show.  Third Place.  Roderick Turner “The New Ferebee/Hope Recreation Center in SE” 2024, Oil on wooden panel. Photo: Hill Center

The Week Ahead:

Tuesday, February 3

ANC6B Alcohol Beverage & Cannabis Committee will hold a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.

• For info on how to join the meeting, go here:  https://anc6b.org/

Agenda: 

• Albert’s Liquor, 328 Kentucky Ave SE. Discussion about a new renovation potentially violating city code.
• Ambar update on Settlement Agreement.

MPD 1D Citizens Advisory Counsel (CAC) virtual meeting 6:00 – 7:15 pm

• Here’s the link to join the meeting:  https://1dcac.com/

Agenda:

• DC Sentencing Commission announcement
• Navy Yard/Union Station Curfew Update
• The Wharf, Gallery Place and Navy Yard Juvenile Safety Concerns
• 3^rd Street to 14^th Streets Safety Concerns
• G to K Streets NE Saving Concerns
• 8th Streets NE Crime and Drug Concerns
• Burglaries, Carjackings, Stolen Auto, and Homicide Reports
• Policing 14^th Place, 15^th Street NE, and Other Areas
• North Capitol Street, NE
• ANC Commissioners and block Associations input
• Business and resident comments

Wednesday, February 4

ANC6B Transportation Committee will hold a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.

• For info on how to join the meeting, go here:  https://anc6b.org/

Agenda: 

• DDOT Presentation on 8th St SE Priority Bus project.
• Watkins Alley issues follow-up
• Feedback to WMATA on L’Enfant Plaza Metro station signs
• 1/28 DDOT oversight hearing testimony
• (Late Breaking) Notice of Intent (NOI) regarding the Safe Routes to School Action Plan for Shirley Chisholm Elementary School

Thursday, February 5

ANC6B Planning & Zoning Committee will hold a virtual meeting at 7:00pm. 

• For info on how to join the meeting, go here:  https://anc6b.org/

Agenda:

• Chisholm Elementary DCPS, 1001 G St SE: Pre-Filing review of school renovation proposal. No vote expected.
• Emerald Wings, 406 8th St SE: update on ongoing settlement talks. No vote expected.
• Spotify, 440 New Jersey Ave SE: vote on Memorandum of Understanding. Vote expected.
• Discussion: Concept Design for HCC Gatehouse: Pre-Filing review. No vote expected.
• (Late Breaking) A Resolution Urging Gentle Density Throughout the District of Columbia

Capitol Hill Corner would also like you to know about:

Go here to see a list of upcoming events for this week and to sign up to join FreeDC:  https://freedcproject.org/

Hill Center Event

Sunday, February 8 – 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm $23

Stone Room Concerts @ Hill Center Featuring Award-winning Traditional Musicians Newberry & Verch

Get tickets here:  https://bit.ly/3NJtZhp

On-going:

Explore the Folger on a Guided Tour

Take a tour of the Folger led by an experienced guide. We offer one-hour group tours priced at $25 per person – minimum, six people.

See here for more info:  https://www.folger.edu/visit/tours/

Mayor Muriel Bowser Trash Update – Sunday, Feb 1 – circa 2:45pm

@MayorBowser

Mayor Bowser: 

“We’ve made good progress on trash and recycling collection this weekend. We will resume the normal collection days for frontside and alleys.

What to expect this week:

•⁠  ⁠Households who get frontside collection: Put trash and recycling cans out front on regular pickup days.

•⁠  ⁠Households who get alley collection: we’re using Bobcats to clear pathways to your bins. Put cans out on regular pickup days and keep them out until it is collected.

by Larry Janezich

Posted Saturday, January 31

CM Charles Allen with meeting organizers ANC6A Chair Amber Gove and East Capitol Resident Suneel Kudaravalli at last Saturday’s Community Meeting on Hill East Power Surges. The couple in the front row suffered $10,000 in damages from power surges on the 1300 block of East Capitol.

Pepco Dodges and Disappoints … Part II

CM Charles Allen with meeting organizers ANC6A Chair Amber Gove and East Capitol Resident Suneel Kudaravalli at last Saturday’s Community Meeting on Power Surges.

Pepco Dodges and Disappoints on Hill East Power Surges – Part I covered Pepco’s presentation at the January 24 community meeting on electric power surges in Hill East.  The surges damaged numerous homes on the 1300 block of East Capitol over the last nine months and Pepco claimed that it is unlikely the company was liable.  

Part II is about the rest of the meeting with presentations from the Office of the People’s Counsel (OPC) – advocates for DC residents with claims against DC utilities – and the Public Service Commission (PSC) which regulates those utilities. 

In addition, Part II covers the struggle of a resident to find an explanation from Pepco and the PSC for numerous power outages in another Capitol Hill neighborhood 8 blocks closer to the Capitol. 

Adam Carlesco, Utility Attorney, (OPC)

After Pepco left the meeting as related in Part I, Adam Carlesco, Utility Attorney, (OPC), explained that the OPC is DC’s utility advocate for utility rate payers across all 8 wards of the District.  He told attendees: “You guys are not the only people we’ve heard from – there was a similar incident in Wards 3 and 4 back in August.”

In that case, a power surge seemed to be the result of a re-closure issue associated with Pepco’s restoration of electricity following an outage.  OPC has filed a complaint (case #1185) with the PSC related to that event and subsequently added a complaint in Ward 6.  Carlesco told attendees they were welcome to provide comment in that case and that “OPC has requested the Commission open a formal investigation into outages like this to make sure “Pepco is engaging in restoration practices that don’t result in a power surge…we want to make sure that protocols are being observed and that they are in order.”  To date, the PSC has not granted a hearing in the case. 

He added, “We’re also asking for … an audit of Pepco’s claims process – we’re getting these auto denials across the board under the guise of this being an act of God.  In addition to getting the audit and the claims process looked at we want to see when they’re applying these act of God considerations and when customers are actually being compensated.”  Carlesco said that OPC was asking that the complaints of the residents of the 1300 block be included in the case pending before PSC. 

Carlesco was followed by Maurice Smith, Director of the Office of Consumer Services, PSC, and the office immediately responsible for handling consumer complaints.  He told attendees that “just because you get a denial of a complaint from Pepco that’s not the end of the road for you.  You can contact PSC and we can go into the resident claims process and have a legal determination which is appealable to the courts.” 

Maurice Smith, Director of the Office of Consumer Services, PSC, Margaret Moscowitz, head of PSC Complaint Division, and Steve Martin, PSC attorney.

Margaret Moscowitz, who leads PSC Complaint Division, told attendees there are additional remedies available to them, and referring to an earlier mention of a possible lawsuit said, “you do have to exhaust the administrative remedies available through the PSC before you can go to a court of law with a company that is under our jurisdiction.”  She listed the steps in the process: 

• (Filing a claim against the company)
• If Pepco denies your claim you can come to the PSC and file a complaint against Pepco
• PSC will do an investigation and file a complaint
• Pepco will have 14 business days to respond
• PSC will contact the complainant with Pepco’s response
• PSC can offer mediation
• If you’re not satisfied with the results of mediation you can progress through the administrative process to a formal PSC hearing
• (If the decision there is not in your favor) You can appeal that decision
• If the appeal is unsuccessful, you can go to court which can award damages

Capitol Hill resident Valerie Jablow attended the meeting.  She is not a resident of the 1300 block of East Capitol, but lives in a neighborhood 8 blocks closer to the Capitol Building which has experienced outages and surges.  She cited her difficulty in getting an explanation from PSC and Pepco for several outages that happened last year. 

Subsequently, in accordance with Carlesco’s suggestion, she joined the comments on case #1185 pending before the PSC.  Parts of those comments follow: 

“I experienced 4 power outages in 2025: two in February (2/11 and 2/20) and two in October (10/9 and 10/14), affecting more than 1,000 customers on Capitol Hill, starting in the 400 block of A NE and going east…”

After petitioning Pepco for an explanation, and receiving no response, Jablow asked the PSC to intervene with Pepco on her behalf.  The PSC did and told Jablow Pepco had 14 days to respond.  Six weeks later, after additional prodding, Pepco’s attributed two February outages to an equipment failure and an unknown cause and offered no explanation for the October outages. 

On 10/23/25, the DC council held a hearing on Pepco problems in 2025. Then, on 1/24/26, there was a public meeting at the NE Library about Pepco problems in the 1300 block of East Capitol.

Jablow says most of the issues raised at both public hearings, spanning half of DC’s wards, are similar to what she experienced in her outages, including: 

• No warning, no storm, no wind before the outages.
• Personal damages incurred (sometimes amounting to thousands of dollars per household).
• Problems with Pepco infrastructure leading to repeated power failures and surges
• Public safety compromised and damage incurred by Pepco’s poor responsiveness to incidents
• Poor/nonexistent public notification and tracking of problems by Pepco.

In her comments, Jablow asked the Commission for a formal hearing on all matters petitioned by the OPC, an explanation for Pepco for all outages experienced by residents in 2025, clarity about reimbursement, and responses to happen before June 2026.

In addition, Jablow has reached out to the Office of the DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb (OAG), about recent Pepco issues that “have affected thousands in half of DC’s wards because it appears that the DC Public Service Commission is reluctant to hold Pepco accountable.”   She asked if this is something AOG could be involved with on behalf of DC residents.  The letter said that “despite the urging of the Office of the People’s Counsel, the DC public service commission has not held a hearing on this matter.”

Jablow’s letter echo’s the Sierra Club’s criticism of PSC’s “cozy” relationship with Pepco and other utilities it regulations.  The Sierra Club and other watchdog groups have a critical and adversarial view of the PSC, though stopping short of a claim of “regulatory capture.”  Here’s a list of some of The Sierra Club’s criticisms:

• acting in the interest of utilities rather than the public
• “rubber-stamping” Pepco’s requests
• PSC approval of a $123 million rate hike costing the average DC resident almost $150
• prioritizing utility profitability over local climate commitments and consumer protections.

ALLEY TRASH PICKUP

DPW will be using Bobcats this weekend to clear alley pathways to allow sanitation workers to get to trash.  The goal is to return to normal for Monday and Tuesday alley AND front side collections but that is contingent on how much progress is made this weekend regarding clearing alleys.  Additional information will be provided in an update on Monday.

To watch Mayor Bowser’s Friday afternoon press conference, go here:  https://video.oct.dc.gov/DCN/jw.html

More than 50 residents of Hill East attended a meeting in NE Library on Saturday to question Pepco and city officials on the cause of unexplained and damaging power surges in Hill East.

Suneel Kudaravalli – one of the residents affected by the disruptions – worked with ANC6A Chair Amber Gove to organize the meeting.

Pepco Dodges and Disappoints on Hill East Power Surges – Part I

by Larry Janezich

Posted, January 27, 2026

Since last May, residents of the 1300 block of East Capitol Street have been plagued by recurring electrical surges and outages.  Residents say the surges have resulted in thousands of dollars in damages.  They started with a two-day incident last May followed by a 3 day incident in June, 2 days in November and 2 days this January.  Twenty-five homes have been affected, and the damages for 8 of them total $65,000.  Pepco responded to each incident, treated it as a power outage, and deemed each incident an equipment failure – for which they are not liable.  Residents want the problem to stop and they want reimbursed for the damages. 

One of those affected was Suneel Kudaravalli who worked with ANC6A Chair Amber Gove to  organize a community meeting at Northeast Library last Saturday to hear from Pepco and city agencies about why these problems occurred and what relief was available to those who suffered damages. 

The meeting was attended by CM Charles Allen; Pepco Director of External Affairs, Lamont Akins; Pepco Senior Manager, Pepco Distribution Engineering, Stephen Park; Pepco Governmental and External Affairs Liaison, Travoris Culpepper; Pepco attorney, Kim Curry; Director of the Office of Consumer Services, Public Service Commission, Maurice Smith; and Adam Carlesco, Utility Attorney, Office of the People’s Counsel for the District of Columbia.

Pepco engineer Stephen Park gave a PowerPoint presentation and talked about actions taken to remedy power outages, detailing what Pepco has done and intends to do, but was less forthcoming on the power surges, saying  there were many causes and he couldn’t tell the source of the surge which residents say cause the damage. 

One resident shared some information she said she learned from a Pepco Operations foreman and a supervisor during the January 11-12 incident when a surge damaged homes on January 12^th.  She said the supervisor had told her that there was a “live neutral wire” which needed to be addressed and that Pepco would do so. 

According to a Google search, “A live neutral wire … creates severe safety hazards, including high risk of electric shock, significant damage to electronic devices, and potential fire hazards, as the neutral line becomes energized.”

The resident asked Park about it, who said that he would definitely check on it and that maybe residents had experienced a live neutral wire but he just didn’t know.  The resident said it was her belief that the “live neutral wire” has been the source of the power surges which started in May of last year and that Pepco was negligent is failing to repair it.

Park was followed by Pepco Governmental and External Affairs Liaison Travoris Culpepper, who walked attendees through the process for filing a claim and outlined Pepco’s reimbursement and claims policy.  He cautioned attendees that, “Unfortunately – this isn’t what folks want to hear but – there is a high threshold for filing  claims as it relates to electric service because there’s so many different things that take place that could impact our service…(the threshold is that) there was a negligent or willful intent to that damage…this one is not one (of those) because it was about equipment failure and that’s what we’ve determined when we looked at this…that a lot of the outages in this area (happened) because of equipment failures and – not necessarily…because of negligence on Pepco’s part .  And so that’s in a nutshell where we are with the claims.”  He added, “We’re able to…look at it and reassess if you feel differently.”

CM Allen responded to the Pepco presentation, expressing his dissatisfaction.

After taking some questions on claims and additional technical questions to Park, Pepco cited storm preparation requirements and prepared to head for the door. Before they did, however, CM Allen stepped up and said that before Pepco left, he wanted to respond to what he’d heard so far. 

Allen’s voice expressed his unhappiness as he said, “I represent about 85,000 people in neighborhoods from Mt Vernon Triangle to NOMA to Capitol Hill to the Wharf to Navy Yard, and I am not hearing about surges across all of Word 6.  So when you have this many homes and this many people impacted on one block, nobody’s making it up.  That’s real.  Five or more surges have taken place and there have been tens of thousands of dollars in damages. 

So Pepco, I know you’re on the hot seat but that’s what we signed up for, right?  So I don’t think it’s fair and I don’t feel satisfied when we leave this conversation today hearing ‘we’re going to go back and look at it.’  We shared the dates with you already about when these happened, so to say ‘well we’re going to go back and look at it now’ feels like you didn’t prepare for this conversation around the surges.  So I’m not happy about that.  I see this as two tracks: long term reliability and I think you did lay out your strategy and plan ….  Great and thank you. 

The second point though is the damages that my neighbors have experienced and what I find to be unsatisfactory answers.  It’s not hard to go look at the weather on that day.  There weren’t electrical storms or … lightning crashes that were causing a surge but clearly something happened….Something didn’t work because people had their entire HVAC system, entire refrigerators – all the things that you have plugged into your house are fried, and they’ve had to go back and replace it at a massive cost for these residents  

I’m not satisfied when we walk out of this today that we have had the surge issue handled the way that we need it to be.  And just throwing up the language (citing) things ‘outside our control,’ I don’t think is enough.  I think it feels convenient that we’re going to always be able to say, ‘Gosh, it’s outside of our control, we just don’t know what it is.’

So I really believe we need Pepco to come back on this in a different and stronger way specifically on the claims.  I’ve talked to neighbors who said the Pepco staff that came out told us ‘it’s gonna get denied, don’t even bother.’”

I know that Pepco’s got to run … but I didn’t want you guys to leave before I had a chance to share that with you directly.  I’m meeting with (Pepco) leadership next week … we’re going to talk about a whole lot of issues from our energy system citywide … I want to talk to the leadership about … how we get the right answers for our neighbors here … so I just want to make sure I said that while Pepco is still in the room before you guys slide out. 

Saying he wanted to give Pepco an opportunity to respond, Allen turned over the microphone to Lamont Akins, Pepco Director of External Affairs.  Akins said, “I’m going to have Kim Curry – she’s with our legal department – provide some comments about our claims.

Curry went over the PowerPoint images which provided the text governing Pepco liability explaining why “the standard for the denial of a claim is willful default and neglect …which is supported by case law throughout the nation, not just in DC.”  Here’s the relevant language from Pepco’s PowerPoint presentation:

“Pepco’s Electric Distribution Tariff” states the general terms and condition for furnishing electric service in DC.  The relevant part of the language says the company is not liable for any low, cost, of damage…by the interruption, reversal, reduction, surge or fluctuation in the supply of electricity…except willful default or willful neglect ….

From left, Pepco attorney Kim Curry, Pepco Director of External Affairs Lamont Akins, (in rear) Pepco Engineer Stephen Park, and CM Allen.

After taking a few questions, Pepco gathered itself and departed.  Allen followed them out into the hall to continue a conversation.

Inside the room, the meeting continued with presentations from the Office of the People’s Counsel (OPC) and the Public Service Commission (PSC).  Part II of this article will report on that portion of the meeting. 

At the end of the meeting, Allen reiterated his commitment to continue to push on the issue – that he would press Pepco to provide answers on the causes of the damages incurred by his constituents.:  “So, I’m meeting … with the head of Pepco next week … and this is going to be part of what I bring and elevate to the highest levels of the present CEO of Pepco … I just want to make sure you know I am going to keep escalating and elevating this with Pepco itself.  I chatted with them briefly out there (gesturing to the hallway).  They felt fairly chastened – that’s a good thing.”  Apparently referring to claims against the company, Allen reminded, “They’re a massive company that is going to do everything they can to make it very hard to ever pay out a claim and so that’s the uphill struggle that we are going to be up against.”

In addition to the OPC and PSC portion of the Saturday meeting, Part II will detail one resident’s experiences in dealing with Pepco and the Public Service Commission.

Power Surge Meeting at NE Library

Saturday, January 24 from 11:00am to 12:30pm.

A meeting to discuss the power surges/electrical problems on Capitol Hill is scheduled for next Saturday, January 24 from 11am to 12:30pm at the Northeast Library (330 7th Street, NE, Meeting Room 1). 

The following officials will attend:

• City Councilman: Charles Allen
• ANC6A04 Commissioner: Amber Gove
• PEPCO Senior Manager in Engineering and Design: Steven Parks
• Public Service Commission Representatives: Maurice Smith, Steven Martin, and Margaret Moscowitz
• Attorney from Office of People’s Counsel:  Name TBD

Posted: Wednesday, January 21

Documentary on Ukraine’s Resistance to Russia Invasion

Thursday, January 22 – Westminster Church 400 I Street SW– 7:00pm – Free

The Pearl Escape Project annual procession from Westminster Church to 7th Street in the Wharf commemorates the 77 enslaved people who tried to escape slavery in the District on April 15th, 1848.  This year the Pearl Escape Project has organized a four part program on Stories of Erasure and Resistance, culminating in the annual procession.

The first event is a FREE film screening of Erase the Nation, an acclaimed documentary of Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s invasion. A conversation with the film’s director will follow the screening.  To reserve a seat, go here.  https://bit.ly/4sMExMt

For more info, go here: https://www.pearlescapeproject.com/