Just as many people on the Monterey Peninsula were making coffee, packing lunches and getting ready to head out the door to work and school this morning Thursday, June 1, the power went out for approximately 55,000 PG&E customers across the Monterey Peninsula and surrounding areas, according to a spokesperson for the utility.
The power first went out just before 7:50am in what is described as a "transmission-level outage." Power was out in neighborhoods spanning from Marina down to Carmel and out to Carmel Valley.
PG&E crews worked remotely to restore power in phases to customers, with most getting their lights back by 8:05am and another 1,600 restored by 8:30am, according to an email statement. The cause of the outage is under investigation.
The incident comes less than three months after a massive outage impacted over 36,000 customers in Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Carmel Valley and other areas beginning March 10, during a strong storm that included heavy winds.
In that case, a large tree falling on a key transmission line on Del Monte Avenue in Monterey caused the outage that persisted for days. Many were without power for around 48 hours, but some in Carmel, Pebble Beach and adjacent neighborhoods were out for up to 12 days.
The three city managers of Monterey, Carmel and Pacific Grove—the three cities that were the most impacted by that outage and smaller disruptions this past winter—were recently scheduled to meet with PG&E officials to discuss the issues surrounding power outages.