PG&E Investigating Cause Behind Power Outage In Marin County
MARIN COUNTY (CBS SF) -- PG&E is still investigating a power outage affecting 61,000 customers in Marin County Thursday and Friday.
The outage that started around 11 p.m. Thursday affected an area from Sausalito and Belvedere to Novato and communities in between, PG&E spokeswoman Deanna Contreras said. Power was back on by 1:30 a.m. Friday, Contreras said.
PG&E was conducting emergency repair work at its Ignacio substation in Marin County while another unrelated repair project was under way nearby, Contreras said.
"There was an issue with the set-up of protective systems for the projects which resulted in the outage. This was not a public safety power shutoff situation," Contreras said.
"We are still investigating how this happened. We restored power within 2.5 hours and we appreciate everyone's patience," Contreras said.
The outage created havoc at the Marin County Sheriff's Department. Sgt. Brenton Schneider with the Marin County Sheriff's Department says it usually gets a dozen 911 calls between the hours of 11 p.m. and midnight. Last night, dispatch received 68 calls in that hour span.
The Sheriff's Department shuffled its resources to answer each and every call during the outage. Many of the calls were for house and fire alarms along with calls from those who rely on power to run their medical equipment.
"We could be facing up to 5-7 days sometimes with this public safety shut offs and -- although last night wasn't planned -- it was a good test run," said Sgt. Schneider.
Homeowners such as Teresa Curry said they learned a good lesson as well: to know what to have on hand for potential upcoming outages.
"Definitely made me think I shouldn't have so much frozen food in my house! And know where the flashlights are," said Curry.
PG&E says if it's a planned outage, residents will be notified roughly 48 hours beforehand. Anyone with questions about a power outage, can call PG&E or log onto its website instead of calling 911.
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