Thousands in Berkeley have lost power, according to PG&E. Image: PG&E

Thousands of people have lost power in Berkeley on Thursday night, according to preliminary information from PG&E.

As of about 9 p.m., PG&E listed 15 outages affecting 318 customers in Berkeley. Less than 10 minutes later, that number had jumped to 2,454 customers without power. (Update: As of 9:35 p.m., there were 26 reported outages affecting 2,560 customers.)

Wind and rain may be playing a role in the outages, though no official cause has been released. A wind advisory remains in effect in Berkeley and throughout the region until 5 a.m. Friday. According to the advisory, “strong winds can result in downed trees and powerlines and could result in local power outages.”

A large outage, affecting 2,155 customers in the Berkeley Hills, began at 7:19 p.m. with an expected restoration of 10 p.m.

Another outage, in West Berkeley and north into Albany and El Cerrito, is affecting 3,879 customers. That began at 7:32 p.m. and has an estimated restoration time of 11 p.m.

As of about 6:30 p.m., it was “raining quite hard” in Berkeley. Photo: Daniel McPartlan
As of about 6:30 p.m., it was “raining quite hard” in Berkeley. Photo: Daniel McPartlan

The cause for both outages are listed as unknown, with PG&E assessing the situation.

Central Berkeley appears, according to the outage map, to have escaped thus far.

Tune in to PG&E’s outage map for the most current information, and sign up for alerts if an outage is affecting you.

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