In the heart of Silicon Valley, a power outage struck Palo Alto this morning, resulting in a temporary blackout for approximately 4,500 customers. The sudden disruption was confirmed by the Palo Alto Police Department and the city's Utilities Department. Residents were advised against inundating emergency lines with calls regarding the outage and, instead, to seek updates through online platforms provided by the Utilities Department.
As the day progressed, the Palo Alto Utilities X account unveiled that crews were diligently working to restore service and had successfully reinstated electricity to 1,100 customers. Initially, the cause was suspected to be weather-related; however, further investigation attributed the blackout to a faulty transformer. The residents affected were urged to visit the city's outage map for real-time updates, while restoration efforts continued throughout the region.
Power went out this am for ~4500 customers. The cause is unknown, but may be related to weather conditions. Crews restored 1100 & are working to restore power for remaining customers. Check https://t.co/mS0eJvYfA9 for updates. We'll post as more information is available. pic.twitter.com/OZ9BBtUatB
— Palo Alto Utilities (@PAUtilities) December 18, 2023
Though the bulk of the cut-off had been alleviated by midday, with service returned to most households by 11:30 am, per updates from Palo Alto Utilities, approximately 390 customers remained without power heading into the afternoon. The Utilities Department expressed gratitude for the community's patience as the work to fully restore power pressed on.
The final stretch of repairs was projected to wrap up between 3 and 4 pm, restoring normalcy to the disrupted lives of Palo Alto residents. According to the latest tweet from Palo Alto Utilities, the Utilities Department continues to support and keep the community informed as crews work on their final reparations and Palo Alto, a hub of technological innovation, experienced an unanticipated reminder of the fragility inherent in the grid that powers it.
