Though Sunday was cooler than Saturday’s scorcher, PG&E outages still started striking the Bay Area, and particularly the East Bay, starting at about 5 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
Temperatures soared over 100 degrees in some parts of the Bay Area Saturday during this holiday weekend heat wave, and Sunday cooled off slightly. But for whatever reason, the serious PG&E power outages didn’t seem to start until late Sunday afternoon. and then peaked around 9 p.m.
Here’s the latest update from PG&E about the power outages across the Bay Area today. A PG&E spokesperson says at last check the cause of these outages were still under investigation, “but the cause was likely heat related.” @nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/pfnHwc5rot
— Alyssa Goard (@AlyssaMGoard) July 3, 2023
The Chronicle reports that thousands of households lost power Sunday night, with the widest blackouts hitting Orinda and Richmond. NBC Bay Area has the numerical details on the blackouts, saying “As of 9:00 p.m. Sunday night, PG&E reported a total of 11,608 customers without power across the Bay Area with 11,143 of those customers in the East Bay.”
In downtown Orinda, many businesses including gas stations, the Orinda Theatre, a fish supply store, and restaurants are all closed due to a power outage. Business owners say they have their fingers crossed that power is restored within the hour @nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/vApH43nOGX
— Alyssa Goard (@AlyssaMGoard) July 3, 2023
Richmond saw about 2,000 households and businesses lose power Sunday, per the Chronicle, and NBC Bay Area reports that nearly 3,500 PG&E customers lost power in Orinda. Among those was the Orinda Theatre, who regrettably lost power right before a packed-house screening of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
"We cannot win!" Orinda Theatre owner Derek Zemrak told NBC Bay Area. "Busiest weekend since Top Gun Maverick."
The Chronicle adds that about 1,000 PG&E customers lost power in the coastal Santa Cruz community of Boulder Creek, and about 130 customers lost power in Napa.
According to NBC Bay Area, a PG&E spokesperson said that the outages "were still under investigation but the cause was likely heat related."
Image: Andrey Metelev via Unsplash
