Power outage in downtown and north Berkeley
The power outage knocked out traffic lights downtown. Photo: Ryan Tate
An electrical power outage knocked out much of downtown Berkeley from about 11:15 a.m. this morning. Berkeleyside has contacted PG&E for more information.
Readers and tweeters report that the outage affected an area from Center Street to Shattuck and from Kittredge to at least Center. Berkeleyside is also getting reports of widespread outages in north Berkeley. BART has notified riders that its trains are not stopping at either North Berkeley or Downtown Berkeley stations because of the outage.
No major difficulties have yet been reported. But Aaron Loeb tweeted that the evacuation the the Downtown Y was “pandemonium”. And Ariel Herschcopf tweeted that the outage meant she couldn’t get out of a parking garage.
Some people retain a sense of humor: Suzanne Yada at the Center for Investigative Reporting on Center Street tweeted that she might raid the neighboring Ben & Jerry’s ice cream store before the stock all melted.
Update 11:46 a.m. PG&E outage map reports seven outages in Berkeley affecting more than 5,000 customers (its scale doesn’t go higher than 5,000+). There is no estimated time of restoration yet.
Update 11:59 a.m. A PG&E spokesperson said that the outage affects 27,000 customers in Berkeley. The cause of the outage is not yet know.
Update 2 p.m. Most of Betkeley seems to be restored. PG&E report “under 3,000” customers remain affected, but that number has not been updated in 30 minutes.
Update 4 p.m. By 4 p.m. both Berkeley BART stations were reported to be open again.
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There didn’t seem to be lights on on Bancroft adjacent to UC Berkeley campus either. And when I passed Downtown Berkeley BART the officer there said it extended all the way down to Ashby. The campus seems to be fine.
I work near Bancroft and Telegraph and just got home from work early due to the outage. I walked down Telegraph on my way home and most of Southside seemed to be without power, up to about Blake street maybe, including traffic lights. Here at home near Derby and Shattuck I have power.
Idiot drivers seem to think that if they see no traffic light, it means “go.” It’s supposed to be a four-way stop.
I think the UC campus has their own power, separate from the rest of the city, but don’t quote me on that.
I can report that Russell and Telegraph has power, so it clearly doesn’t extend all the way to Ashby.
Thanks for the news and the updates. Glad to know Berkeleyside has power :)
Lights were out at least as far north as Hearst and Shattuck; possibly Rose as well, it was hard to tell from the parallel street I was riding on. Homes around Berryman and MLK have power, though.
North Berkeley BART station is chained off, but you can hear the BART trains running through the tunnel. No notes or notices or anything.
Kids at Jefferson school were having some extra recess :)
Stoplights on Sacramento & University are out. Drivers on Sacramento were mostly civil.
Power just came back on for me, at 12:25p. I’m far North, near St. Mary’s High school:
maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&q=st+mary's+high+school&fb=1&gl=us&hq=st+mary's+high+school&hnear=Albany,+CA+94706&cid=0,0,11685050337224985773&z=16&iwloc=A
Lights out on Virginia – just restored five minutes ago (12.30)
Power is back at University and California.
Lights still out at Sacramento & Rose (Near Jefferson School & N. Berkeley BART).
Several helicopters flying overhead.
Power just restored around Gourmet Ghetto (thank you Crepevine for still serving lunch!)
Are the helicopters overhead related at all?
12:41PM. Power on near Sacramento & Rose.
Power is out at Ashby and College, but a lot of Elmwood shops and restaurants seem to be open. I walked up from Colby and Woolsey where everything was fine so I was
a bit surprised.
Thanks Berkeleyside! You were the first place I checked when the power went off. The news and frequent updates are much appreciated! You have your finger on the pulse of all things Berkeley.
Albany Library – on
Westbrae neighborhood (south of Gilman) – off (but back on now at 1:00)
Power back at La Vals.