Elk Grove SMUD customers lose power. Traffic collision with power pole is to blame

More than 9,000 Sacramento Municipal Utility District customers briefly lost power Thursday afternoon in Elk Grove due to a vehicle collision.

SMUD’s outage map reporting 9,233 homes and businesses were knocked offline at 3 p.m. Within 45 minutes, that number was down to around 1,300, according to the utility’s website.

In the area, a vehicle struck a power pole in the area of Waterman and Mosher roads, according to a social media post from the Elk Grove Police Department. Officials say the crash caused a grass fire and power outages.

A SMUD spokesperson said the vehicle collision caused the brief outage in the area.

Waterman Road is blocked between Mosher Road and Brinkman Court, the department said. Police added that SMUD and the Consumnes Fire Department were on the scene.

This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 3:46 PM.