Over the last few weeks, neighbors around Stuart Hobson Middle School have had a great deal of difficulty from noise and smoke created from a temporary generator on the school's grounds. A couple of weeks ago, after initial complaints, the generator was moved behind the building and a pipe installed to vent any fumes to the top of the building (pictures inserted below). The generator had also been running late in the evening when staff forgot to turn it off at the end of the day, so a timer was installed.

Last night however, residents emailed Councilmember Tommy Wells complaining that the generator was still running after 10:00 pm. Tommy contacted Allen Lew, Director for the Office of Public Education Facilties Management, this morning asking to have the problem solved immediately. Mr. Lew's response is inserted below, and it also contains an after-hours phone number to call if the automatic cut-off switch fails again:

There is a electrical upgrade and Pepco heavy-up in process. This will replace the building's very old 800 amp electrical service with a new, modern, 3,000 amp service. The generator is located in the rear parking lot of the school and supplies power to the window air conditioning units. The generator is controlled with an automatic timer that activates the unit during the hours of 8 AM to 4 PM, Monday through Friday. We did discover this morning that the building staff had taken the generator off automatic mode which allowed it to run overnight. We have taken steps to make sure the timer stays in automatic mode from now on. If the neighbors find the generator running off-hours they can call Tony Law at 202-438-6538 and he will send an engineer to turn off the equipment.

The entire electrical upgrade project is scheduled to be complete in mid-September but this date requires that Pepco have their work complete. Right now they are waiting on a permit from DDOT so they can schedule their construction. I don't anticipate any problems making the mid-September date.

Please let us know as progress continues and if our office can be helpful, don't hesitate to contact us.