News

Power outage hits about 4,500 customers in Palo Alto

Utilities restores electricity to about 1,100; weather likely a factor

The city's outage map shows the approximate location where about 3,500 customers remained without power Monday morning. Courtesy city of Palo Alto Utilities

Thousands of utility customers in Palo Alto lost power on Monday morning, an outage that utility officials attribute to a faulty transformer.

City of Palo Alto Utilities reported the outage at about 5:30 a.m. and said that about 4,500 customers lost power. The utility restored power to about 1,100 customers by about 7 a.m. The rest of the customers got their power by about 12:30 p.m., the utility announced.

According to the utility, the cause is unknown but "may be related to weather conditions." Later, it reported that a faulty transformer caused the outage.

The city's outage map shows that the outage was limited to sections of south Palo Alto near Alma Street, including the Charleston Meadows and Greenmeadow neighborhoods.

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Gennady Sheyner
 
Gennady Sheyner covers the City Hall beat in Palo Alto as well as regional politics, with a special focus on housing and transportation. Before joining the Palo Alto Weekly/PaloAltoOnline.com in 2008, he covered breaking news and local politics for the Waterbury Republican-American, a daily newspaper in Connecticut. Read more >>

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Power outage hits about 4,500 customers in Palo Alto

Utilities restores electricity to about 1,100; weather likely a factor

Thousands of utility customers in Palo Alto lost power on Monday morning, an outage that utility officials attribute to a faulty transformer.

City of Palo Alto Utilities reported the outage at about 5:30 a.m. and said that about 4,500 customers lost power. The utility restored power to about 1,100 customers by about 7 a.m. The rest of the customers got their power by about 12:30 p.m., the utility announced.

According to the utility, the cause is unknown but "may be related to weather conditions." Later, it reported that a faulty transformer caused the outage.

The city's outage map shows that the outage was limited to sections of south Palo Alto near Alma Street, including the Charleston Meadows and Greenmeadow neighborhoods.

Comments

Bystander
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Dec 18, 2023 at 8:16 am
Bystander, Another Palo Alto neighborhood
Registered user
on Dec 18, 2023 at 8:16 am

May be caused by weather issues!

Of course, it rained heavily last night. Is anyone surprised Palo Alto lost power somewhere?


Online Name
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Dec 18, 2023 at 10:19 am
Online Name, Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
Registered user
on Dec 18, 2023 at 10:19 am

Anyone taking bets on when CPAU will fix its outrage map so it can be viewed via FireFox? And/or to make it expandable on a cell phone?

CPAU staff continues to ignore complaints about its interface that remains less than useful -- sort of like they treat requests to undergound the wires
to prevent outages.


Shawn
Registered user
Midtown
on Dec 18, 2023 at 10:27 am
Shawn , Midtown
Registered user
on Dec 18, 2023 at 10:27 am

Heavy rain huh ??? SMH


Annette
Registered user
College Terrace
on Dec 18, 2023 at 11:07 am
Annette, College Terrace
Registered user
on Dec 18, 2023 at 11:07 am

@Online Name: did you mean to write "CPAU Senior Staff"? In the decades that I have lived here, the "boots on the ground" staff have never disappointed.


Online Name
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Dec 18, 2023 at 11:23 am
Online Name, Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
Registered user
on Dec 18, 2023 at 11:23 am

@Annette, great point although I'm not sure who's in charge of handling the customer service emails.


Ocam's Razor
Registered user
Leland Manor/Garland Drive
on Dec 18, 2023 at 11:27 am
Ocam's Razor, Leland Manor/Garland Drive
Registered user
on Dec 18, 2023 at 11:27 am

And the national and state administration is pursuing the narrative of going electric for everything while we read PG&E continuous with rate increases. PA utilities is downstream of the state strategy so I ask when will three nuclear power plants be built and come online? Completely revamp the state power grid and inserting the technology to ensure it cannot be hacked? Complete the High Speed Rail throughout California and adjourning states?

Have some weather? Power goes out. Transformer goes out, we lose power. Windy? There is no attention at the state leadership level to improve the current inadequate power grid.


lina crane
Registered user
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Dec 18, 2023 at 2:04 pm
lina crane, Duveneck/St. Francis
Registered user
on Dec 18, 2023 at 2:04 pm

Cannot believe power will be off Dec 21 for 8 hours while they upgrade utilities.


Richard
Registered user
Old Palo Alto
on Dec 18, 2023 at 2:51 pm
Richard, Old Palo Alto
Registered user
on Dec 18, 2023 at 2:51 pm

I guess this is why we are all supposed to switch to electric everything ASAP


Mondoman
Registered user
Green Acres
on Dec 18, 2023 at 7:24 pm
Mondoman, Green Acres
Registered user
on Dec 18, 2023 at 7:24 pm

Re: "The city's outage map shows that the outage was limited to sections of south Palo Alto near Alma Street, ..."
The initial larger outage extended west up Charleston/Arastradero to at least Greenacres.


Jeremy Erman
Registered user
Midtown
on Dec 19, 2023 at 9:45 am
Jeremy Erman, Midtown
Registered user
on Dec 19, 2023 at 9:45 am

I was in Mountain View at the time and saw a blinking oven clock in the morning, so perhaps the outage extended to Mountain View or there was a separate outage there.


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