The PG&E outage map. Source: PG&E

PG&E started cutting power to parts of Berkeley and the East Bay hills around 11 p.m. on Wednesday. UC Berkeley announced at 12:45 a.m. Thursday that it had cancelled classes for the second day. About 3,500 homes and businesses in Berkeley are affected by the outage. About 15,000 PG&E customers in Oakland are without power as well.

https://twitter.com/gmorishige/status/1182173032585953281

Read more about public safety power shutoffs in Berkeley.

Frances Dinkelspiel, Berkeleyside and CItyside co-founder, is a journalist and author. Her first book, Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California, published in November...