Widespread PG&E power outage cause still under investigation

A widespread electrical grid outage effected more than 21,053 Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) customers between Nevada City, Grass Valley, Cascade Shores, Cedar Ridge, Peardale and Chicago Park before power could be restored Thursday morning.

The exact origin and cause of the outage is still unknown at this time but officials reported that the outage originated from the transmission level of the grid and is currently under investigation.

“Everybody who was impacted by this outage has been restored,” PG&E Spokesperson Stephanie Magallon said.

PG&E first responded to the outage at about 3 a.m. Thursday morning.

“We patrolled the area. We know there was some type of issue at the transmission level but the exact cause is still under investigation,” Magallon said, adding that investigations can take some time and could take a couple of days to produce a determination.

By 6:30 a.m. the amount of customers experiencing outages was down to 17,895, and by 7:45 a.m. was down to 9,837. By 9 a.m. only customers near Scotts Flat Reservoir were without power, which was restored not long thereafter.

Transmission lines, where Thursday’s outage originated from, differ from distribution lines as they bring much higher amounts of electricity into the area and affect more people when disrupted.