El Dorado County power outage: PG&E customers without electricity, Highway 50 traffic jam
More than 5,200 homes and businesses in El Dorado County were without electricity Wednesday afternoon in an unexpected PG&E power outage as Northern California experienced a heat wave.
As of 4 p.m., 5,277 PG&E customers in Placerville and The Woods were without power, according to information PG&E submits to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. The power outage there began at 1:16 p.m., and electricity was expected to be restored by 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
About 3:45 p.m., Caltrans officials announced in social media posts that traffic lights on Highway 50 at Bedford Avenue in Placerville were not operating due to the power outage. The traffic lights were flashing red in both directions on Highway 50 and backing up traffic through the town. Caltrans did not have an estimate on when the power could be restored to the traffic lights.
A PG&E spokesperson told KCRA that power outage was caused when a “third-party coming into contact with our pole.”
There were 81 other homes and businesses without electricity Wednesday afternoon in El Dorado County, including PG&E customers in Diamond Springs, Courtside Manor and Apex.
Managers at California’s electricity grid have issued the first of what is likely a series of Flex Alerts through Labor Day as the state prepares dangerously high temperatures from a heat dome building up across the West. Officials are urging Californians to reduce power consumption this week.
From Thursday to Tuesday, the Sacramento Valley can expect highs from 100 to 115 degrees and the foothills are forecast to reach highs of 95 to 111 degrees, according to the National Weather Service in Sacramento.
Several cooling centers will be open in the Sacramento region to help residents to safely beat the heat. Sacramento-area air quality officials have issued a Spare the Air alert for Thursday due to ozone pollution.
