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Unlucky Squirrel Causes San Jose Power Outage Affecting 1,200 Customers

SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- Power has been restored to all 1,200 PG&E customers in San Jose after a squirrel caused an outage that knocked out power to residents and businesses and caused major system-wide Caltrain delays, utility officials confirmed.

The outage was first reported around 8:20 a.m. and affected 1,180 customers in the city's College Park neighborhood. One of those customers was Caltrain's San Jose dispatching center, according to PG&E spokeswoman Monica Tell.

The outage caused the dispatching center to fail and led trains to stop, creating major system-wide delays.

Power was restored to all customers around 11 a.m., Tell said.

The spokeswoman said a squirrel came into contact with some PG&E equipment in the area, causing the outage. The squirrel did not survive the encounter.

TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

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