Residents and businesses in the City of Manassas are facing yet another significant power outage on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, marking the latest in a series of disruptions that have frustrated the community in recent weeks.
The outage forced the closure of the Prince William County Judicial Center at 9311 Lee Avenue for the remainder of the day. The facility, which serves Prince William County, the City of Manassas, and Manassas Park, is scheduled to reopen during regular business hours on Thursday, May 21.
Candi Choi of the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court issued the closure notice: “The Prince William County Courthouse is CLOSED for the remainder of the day on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, due to a serious power outage, and will re-open during regular business hours tomorrow.”
As of mid-afternoon, the City of Manassas Electric Outage Viewer showed 3,752 customers — roughly 22% of the approximately 16,850 served — without power. Affected areas include downtown and historic streets such as Main St., Battle St., Center St., Church St., Prince William St., Peabody St., Mathis Ave., and others near the Judicial Center.
Sunday Outage Affected Airport Area
This latest event comes just days after a power outage on Sunday, May 17, 2026, which impacted the Manassas Regional Airport area and surrounding neighborhoods, including disruptions to traffic lights. Manassas Police Department officials confirmed power restoration that morning.
Former Manassas City Councilwoman Lynn Forkell-Greene addressed the May 17 outage and its effects in depth during the Potomac Local Manassas Monday podcast this past Monday, May 19. The discussion highlighted ongoing reliability concerns for residents and businesses.
According to National Weather Service data, weather does not appear to be a significant cause of either outage:
- May 17 (Sunday): Warm and mostly dry with highs of 84–87°F and no thunderstorms or strong winds reported.
- May 20 (Wednesday): Hot and muggy conditions with highs near 95–97°F and a Severe Thunderstorm Watch in effect, but no lightning strikes, high winds, or storm damage have been linked to the outage.
City officials have not cited weather as a cause. The outages are more likely related to infrastructure or equipment issues on the city-owned electric grid.
City-Owned Utility
The City of Manassas operates its own electric utility, independent of Dominion Energy in much of the surrounding county. Officials have not yet released a specific cause or restoration timeline for today’s outage. Residents should report issues by calling the 24-hour operations center at 703-257-8353 and monitor the live map at http://manassasutilities.org:7576/.
Potomac Local has covered multiple prior incidents, including substation failures, equipment issues, and wildlife-related outages that have repeatedly affected large portions of the city.
