News

Squirrel knocks out power for more than 600 Portola Valley households this morning

PG&E reports electricity expected to be back on by early evening

by Angela Swartz / Almanac

Uploaded: Wed, Aug 11, 2021, 11:45 am 0
Updated: Wed, Aug 11, 2021, 3:37 pm
Time to read: about 1 minutes

Some residents in Portola Valley are without power this morning. Screenshot by Angela Swartz.

About 644 Portola Valley households are without power this morning, according to PG&E. The cause: a squirrel, said Town Manager Jeremy Dennis.

Power went out around 8:11 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 11, and was expected to be restored around 12:30 p.m., according to the utility company's website. The latest from the PG&E website, as of 1:13 p.m., shows that electricity may be out until around 6 p.m. There are about 1,700 households in town, according to 2019 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

"Looks like a squirrel came in contact with (power) lines and the transformer blew," Dennis said.

PG&E is assessing the cause at the outage location, according to an update posted at 11:13 a.m.

Officials at the Portola Valley Library, located in the town center, reported that their power was out this morning. The library is open with "limited services," according to a 10:27 a.m. tweet. According to the town's Twitter account, the library closed early, at 2:30 p.m. because of the outage.

The Portola Valley Library reported its power was out Wednesday morning via Twitter. Via Twitter.

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The Almanac reached out to PG&E and the story will be updated when more information is available.

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Angela Swartz
 
Angela Swartz joined The Almanac in 2018 and covers education and small towns. She has a background covering education, city politics and business. Read more >>

Follow on Twitter @almanacnews, Facebook and on Instagram @almanacnews for breaking news, local events, photos, videos and more.

Squirrel knocks out power for more than 600 Portola Valley households this morning

PG&E reports electricity expected to be back on by early evening

by Angela Swartz / Almanac

Uploaded: Wed, Aug 11, 2021, 11:45 am
Updated: Wed, Aug 11, 2021, 3:37 pm

About 644 Portola Valley households are without power this morning, according to PG&E. The cause: a squirrel, said Town Manager Jeremy Dennis.

Power went out around 8:11 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 11, and was expected to be restored around 12:30 p.m., according to the utility company's website. The latest from the PG&E website, as of 1:13 p.m., shows that electricity may be out until around 6 p.m. There are about 1,700 households in town, according to 2019 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

"Looks like a squirrel came in contact with (power) lines and the transformer blew," Dennis said.

PG&E is assessing the cause at the outage location, according to an update posted at 11:13 a.m.

Officials at the Portola Valley Library, located in the town center, reported that their power was out this morning. The library is open with "limited services," according to a 10:27 a.m. tweet. According to the town's Twitter account, the library closed early, at 2:30 p.m. because of the outage.

The Almanac reached out to PG&E and the story will be updated when more information is available.

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