Brief Power Blackout Hits 5,700 Bay Area Customers
Almost 6,000 customers lost power and California’s power regulator declared a Stage 1 electricity emergency Wednesday afternoon after a major out-of-state power plant went down.
About 5,700 customers in Sunnyvale and Mountain View lost power just after 4 p.m. though all but 60 had power restored an hour later, said Rod Low, a PG&E; spokesman.
The cause of that blackout is under investigation.
Stephanie McCorkle, a spokeswoman for the California Independent System Operator, said the downed plant took 1,300 megawatts of power off the western grid, 900 of which were headed to California. As a result, power reserves fell below 7%.
Power demand peaked at 4 p.m. at 40,985 megawatts McCorkle said, about 1,000 megawatts less than expected.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
