Massive power outage in Sebastopol and west county
Equipment at Sebastopol’s main PG&E substation malfunctioned during routine maintenance, leaving 17,000 people without power
UPDATE: Power was restored to Sebastopol between 9:08 and 9:15 am.
Sebastopol and all of west county from west of Occidental to Graton and south to Valley Ford is experiencing a massive power outage. Forestville still has power.
The power went off shortly before 8 am.
A PG&E representative told the Sebastopol Times, “We have 17,244 customers without power in the area right now. The cause has yet to be identified. We do have crews on scene investigating the cause of the outage, and we expect to start restoring customers soon. However, until the cause is identified, we can’t begin restoration.”
Power was restored throughout most of Sebastopol at 9:08 am.
PG&E representative Megan McFarland, wrote to the Sebastopol Times, “This morning at 7:22, PG&E was executing planned safety work at our substation in Sebastopol. During the course of the work, a device inside the substation malfunctioned which resulted in an outage impacting around 17,000 customers. PG&E is currently on site making repairs and customers should be reenergized throughout the morning.”
Summer school classes have been cancelled at some locations because of the power outage, including at Park Side and Brookhaven. Attempts to confirm with other schools have been unsuccessful, likely because of the power outage.
We will update this article on sebastopoltimes.com with more information as it becomes available.