WASHINGTON, D.C. (WUSA9) -- Myra Oppel was sitting in her office at Pepco's Headquarters when the Derecho of 2012 hit. 

She watched as the power company's outages jumped from a few thousand to almost half a million. By the time it was all over, more than two-million people in Virginia, Maryland, and the District were in the dark, and it would take nearly two weeks before all the power was restored.

Almost a year later, Oppel met with WUSA9 to discuss what Pepco's doing to prepare for this latest round of storms. 

WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA9)--On Tuesday, June 11th Virginians will head to the polls to choose party candidates for two statewide offices--Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General--as well as eleven House of Delegate seats.

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The race for Governor has been a known entity for weeks.  Ken Cuccinelli is the Republican candidate.  He was selected at a convention in Richmond back in May.  Terry McAuliffe was the only Democratic candidate to file for the office, so he automatically became the party's nominee.

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(WUSA9) -- If you drive I-66 Northern Virginia, you are well-acquainted with gridlock.  

But congestion and safety could improve on I-66 and elsewhere, thanks to new connected vehicle technology, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell cut the ribbon for a new research "test bed" along a four square mile area on I-66 from the Beltway to Nutley and on parallel Routes 50 and 29.  

The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute has installed 45 radio devices in the test bed.  

The white devices with antennae will send V-Dot information about works zones, slow traffic, etc., to vehicles equipped with connected vehicle technology.   

Similar to how navigation systems evolved from, only on devices to installed in your car and smart phone, so too will it be for connected vehicle technology, according to Tom Dingus, the Director of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.