Yesterday, a power outage affected downtown Palo Alto, leaving approximately 1,300 customers without electricity and causing disruptions in traffic. According to a tweet from the Palo Alto Utilities Department, the outage began around 1:06 pm.
As of 1:06 pm, there is an outage for about 1,300 customers in downtown Palo Alto. The cause is being investigated, and our current estimated restoration time is about 4 pm. pic.twitter.com/L9wZkuEiIS
— Palo Alto Utilities (@PAUtilities) September 4, 2023
As a result of the outage, the signal lights on Embarcadero Road between El Camino Real and Highway 101 were rendered nonfunctional. In a separate tweet, the Palo Alto Police Department reminded drivers to treat the "dark" intersections as four-way stops, urging patience and safety on the roads.
While the cause of the outage was still under investigation, city crews and the Utilities Department worked tirelessly to restore power to the affected areas. The extent of the outage can be seen via the Palo Alto Utilities Department's Electric Outage Map, accessible through their website, which showed where the outage is currently occurring, as well as the number of potentially affected customers.
