Suspected Arson Damages Berlin Power Grid, Outage Hits 45,500 Homes

A fire suspected to be an arson attack damaged critical power infrastructure in southwest Berlin early Saturday, leaving tens of thousands of households and businesses without electricity amid freezing temperatures and snowfall.

The blaze erupted around 6:45 a.m. on a cable bridge near a power plant in the Lichterfelde district, affecting high-voltage lines that supply neighborhoods in Steglitz and Zehlendorf. Firefighters extinguished the flames quickly, but the extensive damage disrupted service to approximately 45,500 households and 2,200 businesses initially, according to grid operator Stromnetz Berlin. By Sunday, officials reported that power had been restored to some areas, but around 35,000 households and 1,900 commercial entities remained affected, with full restoration not expected until Thursday afternoon, January 8.

The outage has compounded challenges for residents in the snow-covered city, where temperatures hovered near freezing. Local district heating systems, which rely on electricity to distribute warmth through underground pipes, have also failed in the impacted zones, leaving some without heat. Stromnetz Berlin noted that cold weather was slowing repair...