More than 1,400 utilities customers in Palo Alto's Barron Park neighborhood lost electric power Friday afternoon -- including Gunn High School.
The power outage occurred at 3:13 p.m. in the area of Gunn High School. Power was restored by 6:30 p.m.
Assistant Director Dean Batchelor of the Utilities Department said the outage may have been caused by a damaged transformer, though utility crews were still investigating the exact cause.
Streets that lost power included Maybell Avenue, Los Robles, El Camino Real, Amaranta Avenue, Matadero Avenue, Barron Avenue, La Donna Avenue and Laguna Avenue. Gunn High School also lost power late Friday afternoon as school was ending.
The outage affected 1,756 customers, utility officials said.
Comments
Barron Park
on Sep 24, 2010 at 11:45 pm
on Sep 24, 2010 at 11:45 pm
Power came back in my place at 5:17.7uit4
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 25, 2010 at 9:03 am
on Sep 25, 2010 at 9:03 am
Yet another power outage in Palo Alto.
How much did it cost to bring back the power? How much did it cost the community for this outage? Fortunately school was ending at Gunn, but if it had happened earlier, academic learning time would have been lost. For businesses in this area, they lost their ability to operate.
We need to stop these outages. This is the 21st century in the heart of Silicon Valley and we get far too many outages. The third world system of hanging lines on poles around the City must go.
another community
on Sep 25, 2010 at 10:15 am
on Sep 25, 2010 at 10:15 am
Resident, I lived in Mexico a third world country. We did not lose power as many times as the citizens of palo alto do.
Ever find those gaslines and shut off valves?
Barron Park
on Sep 25, 2010 at 2:37 pm
on Sep 25, 2010 at 2:37 pm
I called the city's phone # for reporting outages at least 10 times between 3:30 and 4:30. I received a busy signal every time. Can't we do better than that?
Barron Park
on Sep 26, 2010 at 11:38 am
on Sep 26, 2010 at 11:38 am
Why didn't the city put out a robo-call? The utilities phone line was a continuous busy signal and police dispatch refused to offer ANY info as to location, cause or how widespread the outage was...shameful!
Barron Park
on Sep 26, 2010 at 1:58 pm
on Sep 26, 2010 at 1:58 pm
The greatest was that the city put up the notice about the outage on the utilities website, LOL! Thus reported by my husband whose office is in a different PA location than our home.
Barron Park
on Sep 27, 2010 at 6:07 pm
on Sep 27, 2010 at 6:07 pm
I was rather relieved to discover it was a power outage. I thought I had to buy a new dryer!! Can't believe how upset everyone above got. At least it didn't go out today when it is much warmer! Lighten up.
Barron Park
on Sep 27, 2010 at 10:54 pm
on Sep 27, 2010 at 10:54 pm
Hear hear to Happy Camper's call to lighten up. These online forum posts (site-wide) could generally use more moderation and civility.
Josina Ave was also affected, as was the traffic light on El Camino Real at Ventura (near Star One, Chevron, and Happy Donuts). While South-bound traffic was obeying the rules of the road by treating the dark light like a stop sign, North-bound traffic was just speeding right through like there wasn't a light at all. Maybe no north-bounders noticed, or they didn't know the proper response, or maybe they were afraid that if they stopped they'd be hit from behind. So maybe this is just a call for people to drive with a bit more care, not so fast, and brush up on the California driving code (Web Link
another community
on Sep 29, 2010 at 6:39 am
on Sep 29, 2010 at 6:39 am
Unfortunately, putting the power lines underground doesn't seem to make much of a difference (unless you live in a place where there are lots of storms). We spent 8 years in a Southern California community where there were no above-ground power lines and had more power outages there than anywhere else we've ever lived, including Palo Alto and some very stormy areas. Underground power lines make the city look better, though, and are probably safer. Is Palo Alto thinking about putting its power lines underground?
Midtown
on Sep 29, 2010 at 7:49 am
on Sep 29, 2010 at 7:49 am
There is a long standing and very slow program for undergrounding power lines. Completion time is measured in decades. But you occasionally run into a block where it is done and it looks nice.