A power outage Friday caused a blackout in parts of downtown Washington, including the White House, leaving thousands without electricity and causing major subway delays, the utility company said.
The blackout area includes the White House, although an AFP correspondent said it appeared to be business as usual, if only with a few less lights on.
"We are running on generator power," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.
The Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where the vice-president's office is based, has also been affected.
"About 7,000 customers are without power," said David Morehead, a spokesman for the PEPCO utility. He told AFP a substation went down around 1120 GMT.
Local radio WTOP said the outage covered a 30-block radius, and was affecting traffic lights along several main streets.
Staff were seen standing outside many buildings in the downtown area, including about 30 people outside the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
Subway operator Metro said trains were moving but passengers should expect long delays, while a number of stations were operating on emergency lighting, "so they are significantly darker than usual."
Escalators and ticket machines were not working, it said
