PG&E Provides Details About Cause Of Various Power Outages
Sonora, CA — Pacific Gas and Electric reports that there were 900 instances of lightning recorded in its local service area around Tuolumne County on Saturday evening, and 30 transformers that were damaged and required repairs.
Spokesperson Karly Hernandez adds that the following day, Sunday, “We were able to complete a majority of the patrols to survey electric infrastructure, which utilized both ground and air resources, including 100 ground personnel and six helicopters. Today, Monday September 11th, we will continue working on restoration and expect to complete the remaining repairs.”
Hernandez continues, “As of 6 am, we have approximately 4,000 customers that are without power in Tuolumne County. Some of the affected customers are the result of an outage that began last night. At approximately 9 pm Sunday evening, an outage began affecting 2,888 customers in Sonora. The outage is an EPSS outage and due to the rugged terrain, will require that the electric line be patrolled via helicopter. PG&E crews are working safely and as quickly as possible to restore customers.”
She concludes with a message to customers, “We appreciate your patience as we work to restore power safely and quickly.”
We reported earlier that all of the Calaveras County outages have been restored.
Belleview Elementary School is closed today (Monday) due to a lingering outage.
The National Weather Service reports that statewide there were 1,034 lightning strikes on Saturday evening. A majority were in Tuolumne and Stanislaus counties.
