Faulty electrical equipment thrust thousands into darkness in East Oakland on Monday afternoon after a power outage occurred in the middle of a sweltering day, Pacific Gas & Electric officials said.
PG&E spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian told the Chronicle the outage started at about 3:07 p.m. and at its peak impacted nearly 7,000 customers, mostly in the Dimond District of East Oakland. The outage started from a faulty riser at the 1300 block of Excelsior Avenue, which often connects overhead and underground wires to a utility pole, Sarkissian said.
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No other details were immediately available and crews were continuing to make repairs to PG&E infrastructure, Sarkissian said. “Our priority was getting our customers restored safely and as quickly as possible and now we’re focused on making repairs to the equipment,” Sarkissian said. The outage happened as a powerful high-pressure system brought temperatures to the mid-80s in Oakland and promised to keep temperatures warm and winds rushing toward the coast until Tuesday…