article_snippet.sent: A power outage temporarily blackened Washington, D.C. this afternoon, interrupting a State Department briefing and forcing the White House onto back-up generators.
article_snippet.sent: Traffic lights also went out in parts of the city.
article_snippet.sent: The chief spokesman for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue confirmed that the outage 'briefly had an impact on the White House complex' but it was 'back on the regular power source' by the time The chief spokesman for 1600
article_snippet.sent: The temporary power outage affected State Department, the Department of Energy, the University of Maryland in College Park and other areas in the District of Columbia and Maryland .
article_snippet.sent: With traffic lights still out at a busy intersection not far from the White House, a Metro Police Department officer directs vehicles after an electrical blackout affected the city .
article_snippet.sent: A possible cause was an explosion at a power at a plant located in southern Maryland, according to the Associated Press.
article_snippet.sent: Pepco told local news station WTOP that a dip in power in the transmission line at one of Pepco Maryland stations was responsible.
article_snippet.sent: As of a 1:35 pm update, more than Washington-area customers - including government offices - had reported outages, Pepco said.
article_snippet.sent: The outage lasted but a few seconds at the White House, as the government building immediately moved onto generators.
article_snippet.sent: downtown D.C. The U.S. Capitol, the Justice Department, IRS, Department of Energy and several Smithsonian museums, as well as the city's metro system were also affected, according to reports.
article_snippet.sent: Some stations of the city's metro system were running on emergency lighting, CNBC reported, and the Capitol complex's power system also failed over to a generator.
article_snippet.sent: downtown D.C. The power failure extended as far northeast of Washington as the University of Maryland's flagship location in College Park, located roughly 10 miles outside the heart of D.C. Other government agencies, including the State Department, were affected for longer periods of time than 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. 
highlights_snippet.sent: It interrupted a State Department briefing and forced the White House onto back-up generators .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: Outage 'briefly had an impact on the White House complex' but it was 'back on the regular power source'
highlights_snippet.sent: Related to a dip in power in a transmission line at a Maryland facility, power company says; another report says power company may have been an explosion .
  