PG&E customers without power throughout Bay Area

By Bay City News Service

The Bay Area heat wave brought on brush fires and power outages as temperatures in places like Pleasanton soared past 100 degrees. 

As of 9:30 p.m. on Monday 2,967 PG&E customers are without power throughout the Bay Area. The utility company says it's a series of heat-related outages.  

1,444 are affected in the South Bay, 892 in the East Bay, 37 in the North Bay, 590 on the Peninsula and 4 customers affected in San Francisco. 

One resident in Pleasanton described the heat as "unbearable". 

"The dogs were all panting, the air conditioner wasn't on. We checked the thermostat, we checked the air conditioner," said Michael Zwingle a Pleasanton resident. 

"It's crazy hot. We're letting the kids stay up late tonight to get ice cream and can't really cool off. So we've been at the pool and now we're moving on to ice cream," said Sarina Walker of Pleasanton. 

The outages peaked at 19,529 customers affected on Sunday, when increased demand for air conditioning overloaded electrical lines, transformers and other equipment, PG&E officials said.

The number of outages Sunday, when triple-digit temperatures were reported around the region, was the highest PG&E has experienced due to heat since July 2006, utility officials said.

PG&E is bringing in extra crews and resources to help restore power to all customers. 

The California Public Utilities Commission authorized a Flex Alert, calling for consumers statewide to reduce power consumption between 2 and 9 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday by turning off lights and big appliances such as stoves, ovens and washing machines. Air conditioners should be turned down to 68 degrees.