MANASSAS, Va. — A bird caused a power outage at UVA Prince William Medical Center on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, marking the second disruption to the city’s electric service in less than a week and raising new questions about the reliability and cost of Manassas’ electric utility.
City officials said the bird came into contact with utility lines near the hospital, damaging a transformer. The hospital, which has three backup power options, quickly switched to an alternate source, restoring power soon after the incident. However, the hospital later experienced a separate internal breaker trip, leaving one building without electricity for a short time.
“There was a power outage overnight, but power was restored shortly after 8 a.m.,” said UVA Health spokeswoman Debbie Fleischer. “Some surgical cases were briefly put on hold this morning but have since resumed. No cases have been or will be cancelled.”
The outage at the hospital came just four days after a separate electric issue affected about 900 city customers on Friday, April 25. That outage, tied to a fault in an underground cable at the Point of Woods substation, left residents in the area without power beginning at 5:30 p.m. Power was restored to most customers by 6 p.m., with all service restored by 9:30 p.m., said City Manager Steve Burke.
Burke told the City Council that the city is “assessing the condition of the cable in that area and replacing as necessary.” He reminded residents that they can call the city’s 24-hour Operations Center at 703-257-8353 to report outages or receive status updates. The city also uses reverse 411 calls, social media updates, and a live electric outage map available at manassasutilities.org for major disruptions.
The pair of outages underscores growing concerns over electric service in Manassas, especially as the City Council considers raising utility rates in the upcoming fiscal year. Under the proposed budget, residents would see a $7.35 monthly increase in their electric bill, a $4.60 increase for water, and $6.25 for sewer service.
Combined with a potential increase in the real estate tax rate, the proposed changes have drawn concern from residents already frustrated by recent outages and rising living costs. City officials say the rate hikes are necessary to fund overdue infrastructure upgrades and ensure long-term service reliability.
As previously reported by Potomac Local News, the city saw a 20% increase in power outages in 2023 compared to the previous year. In response, officials are working to shift new data centers onto Dominion Energy’s grid and invest in upgrades to local equipment.
“We continue to make investments in the system to reduce the frequency and duration of outages,” Burke said during a recent budget meeting.
