Southwest Portland woke up on the wrong side of the light switch Saturday, after a sudden blackout cut power to more than 12,000 Portland General Electric customers, darkening large stretches of the west side and tangling early commutes. Traffic signals went dark, some small businesses flipped over to backup power, and utility crews moved in quickly to track down the problem. Neighbors said electricity dropped in the early morning hours and that workers were on the scene soon after to isolate the issue.
Where The Outage Hit Hardest
According to KGW, more than 12,000 PGE customers in Southwest Portland lost power Saturday. The outlet's outage map showed more than 10,000 customers without electricity in ZIP code 97219 and roughly 1,400 customers out in 97239. One resident told KGW the lights blinked off around 6:45 a.m.
PGE Crews Switching Circuits
PGE spokesperson Drew Hanson told KGW that crews were actively working to reroute electricity around the trouble spot. “Crews are currently working on switching affected customers over to alternate power sources, so we will see several thousand customers be restored soon,” Hanson said. The utility reported it was investigating what triggered the outage while teams handled both switching and repair work.
How To Check And Report
Customers can track outages or report that their power is out through Portland General Electric's interactive outage map on its website or via the utility's mobile app. PGE also sends text alerts when service is down and posts restoration updates online. As outlined by Portland General Electric, customers can call 503-228-6322 for account help and 503-464-7777 to report outages and emergencies.
Local Impact
The blackout disrupted morning routines across several southwest neighborhoods and left some small businesses leaning on generators to keep things running. Crews were expected to bring customers back online in stages as circuit switching wrapped up and repairs were finished, with power restoration rolling out incrementally through the affected areas.
