MOUNTAIN AREA — Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is reporting that a power outage stretching from Bass Lake to Ahwahnee and up to Wawona had initially affected more than 3,500 customers. PG&E said that nearly 2,000 customers were without power well into the evening. By about 9 p.m., fewer than 1,000 customers were still awaiting restoration of service. By 4 a.m on Tuesday, Mar. 5, power had been fully restored to all residents, according to the utility.
The outage occurred just after 4 p.m. on Monday, Mar. 4 and the cause was reported as an “equipment issue.”
Reader Renee Margaux captured this shot just after 4 p.m. today in the vicinity of Highway 41 and Road 222. PG&E has not confirmed the precise cause of the outage other than to say “equipment issues.”
Residents stated the cause as possibly being related to the top of a power pole cross-arm having broken and fallen on power lines in the vicinity of Highway 41 and Road 222. The exact cause is unconfirmed by PG&E at this time.
“My husband and I went to El Cid for dinner and saw where a power pole lost the top and all the cables were still connected but hanging low off the pole,” says Carol Eggink, adding “[That] may have been the cause. It was located before the Mountain House heading into Oakhurst.”
PG&E says crews were on scene investigating and assessing the outage. One report said the estimated time to restore power for most customers was 10:15 p.m., though some residents in Ahwahnee and Oakhurst reported that their power was already back on less than one hour into the outage. Meanwhile, PG&E reported that the fewer than 1,000 customers would have power returned to their homes by 2 a.m. on Tuesday, Mar. 5.
Just after 5 p.m. the State Center Community College District (SCCCD) and Oakhurst Community College Center sent out an emergency alert stating that the campus and surrounding areas had suffered a power outage. Just before 6 p.m. the SCCCD and college center confirmed that power was back on at school and classes would be in session this evening as usual.
Overnight into Tuesday the issues were resolved.
Visit https://m.pge.com/#outages for more information.
