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.
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.
