Forgive our light content so far this morning, faithful readers, but we were forced to flee DCist Headquarters about 2 hours ago in search of the welcoming embrace of friends with working electricity and Internet access. Not only is much of the Shaw neighborhood currently experiencing intermittent power outages, but one surge may have permanently damaged this editor’s lap top (cue the tiny violins). Only time, or a certified PC technician, will tell.

Now happily installed in a temporary office space with a borrowed computer, this event prompted us to check in with Pepco’s outage map, which we’ve included here for your benefit. As of 12:31 p.m., this was the general landscape of the severity of the metro area’s power outages. You can see that 20001 is colored orange for between 1000 and 2000 customers without power. Guess that includes us. But the situation is clearly worse in PG County, and according to the Post article we linked to this morning, many, many more non-Pepco customers in Anne Arundel and PG Counties were without power last night, which, brrrrr, just makes us shudder. Stay warm, neighbors.

Tired of whining about snow and ice on sidewalks and roads? Consider this an open thread to complain about utilities instead! And hang in there with us while we get back up to speed.

UPDATE: From the D.C. Transportation Alert SMS service: “Transportation Incident – Traffic lights are out from 17th and Independence Ave, and Constitution Ave, to 23rd St., to Maine Avenue, SW.” Yikes! We’re trying to get more details.