Hill East Power Outage Forces Bar to Close Two Sundays in a Row

(Updated at 5:25 p.m.) A power outage that’s lasted more than 20 hours has left parts of Hill East in the dark — and caused the cocktail lounge Wisdom to shut its doors.

Outages last Sunday, yesterday and today have left the 1432 Pennsylvania Ave. SE bar without electricity, forcing owner Erik Holzherr to shut down and miss out on an estimated $2,000.

Last Sunday, Wisdom — which was recently recognized for serving some of the best gin cocktails in the country — planned to host an Oscar-viewing party. Without power, Holzherr cancelled it. A book club meeting and private party of 30 people were scheduled for last night. But Holzherr was forced to cancel those, too.

“It really sucks for business,” he said, speaking from the dim building.

“Right now, I’m in the dark,” he said. “Luckily, it’s not freezing.”

As of 4:30 p.m., Wisdom was one of about 500 Pepco customers in the neighborhood without power. This morning, almost 625 Pepco customers in the area were affected. Flooding near Pennsylvania and Potomac avenues SE affected underground cables, a Pepco spokesman said.

Holzherr said Pepco told him earlier today that his power would be restored by 5:30 p.m.. He was worried he would have to keep Wisdom closed tonight, but the lights flicked back on about 5:20 p.m. The bar will be open tonight.

Photo courtesy of Erik Holzherr