As the Manassas City Council is fresh off its retreat to Airlie Hotel and Conference Center in Warrenton and set to begin budget talks, Manassas City Councilwoman Theresa Coates Ellis emphasized distinguishing between wants and needs when making decisions that impact the community. She stressed that council members serve as stewards of taxpayer money and must prioritize choices for the betterment of the community.
"When it comes to the budget, we have to look at wants and needs," Coates Ellis stated. "We're going to go through the budget highlights from last year to see where we are and where we're going. There will be some wants and needs brought up from the departments."
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Davis assured elected leaders the utilities division was working to improve the grid, which saw a 20% spike in outages in 2023, for a total of 133, up from 111.
The outages left in the dark for about an hour and a half, on average.
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Manassas residents saw 133 power outages in 2023, up from 111 in 2022, a 20% increase—the outages left in the dark for about an hour and a half, on average.
According to a city report, most outages occurred at the Battery Heights substation behind Mayfield Intermediate School.
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Ongoing power outages have plagued residents over the past few months. The electrical substation at Battery Heights on Liberia Avenue, one of four in the city, is offline.
The three other substations are carrying the load. Diane Bergeron, Finance Director for the city, told the council it wouldn't be sustainable to continue to operate on only three. Meanwhile, the city found a transformer in Pennsylvania and hopes to deliver it by July 27, potentially operational by August 1.
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A recent series of power outages in the city has been "unprecedented," according to utility director Tony Dawood. Most recently, issues at the city's power substation in Battery Heights off Liberia Avenue left customers in the dark.
The city provides electricity to homes and businesses through its in-house utilities department and does not rely on third-party ut like Dominion or NOVEC. In the past, the city has been known for its reliable, independent energy supply.
