More than 20,000 customers in Sacramento area lost power Tuesday. Here’s where

Thousands of homes and businesses across the Sacramento region lost power Tuesday morning as multiple outages affected service areas from the northeastern suburbs to Placer County.

A largest outage began shortly before 10 a.m. in northeastern Sacramento County, impacting residents in North Highlands, Carmichael and Citrus Heights, according to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.

SMUD’s outage map showed that more than 13,500 customers were without electricity at the height of the disruption. By 10:15 a.m., about 7,500 customers were still affected.

The cause of the outage was “weather related,” a spokesperson for SMUD said. Officials estimated service would be restored to most customers by 11 a.m. By 1 p.m., roughly 1,300 homes and businesses were still offline.

Emergency dispatchers had sent Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District firefighters to multiple locations for reported downed wires across the Carmichael area. According to PulsePoint, a service that maps most emergency dispatch calls, locations included Sutter Avenue near Fair Oaks Boulevard, Hackberry Lane between Winding Way and Locust Avenue, and Garfield Avenue near Marmith Avenue.

Metro Fire spokesperson Capt. Mark Nunez said the winds that “played havoc out in the Folsom and Rancho Murieta area with grass fires, have seemed to have caused numerous wires down in Carmichael.” He said crews that responded reported “significant winds” and were assessing damage.

According to PulsePoint, at least 12 instances of “wires down” were reported in the Carmichael area by 10:30 a.m. According to the National Weather Service, gusts in the area topped 20 mph. Bee readers shared photos of damage whipped up by the sudden gusts, including downed trees and patio furniture being tossed onto roofs and neighboring yards.

SMUD also reported additional outages elsewhere during the morning. In the south Sacramento neighborhood of Vineyard, more than 1,500 homes and businesses lost power before being restored just after 10 a.m. Another 2,500 customers were affected by separate outages in the Rancho Cordova and Mather areas.

In Placer County, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. reported that approximately 5,000 customers lost electricity about 6:45 a.m. due to emergency repairs. By 10:15 a.m., fewer than 50 PG&E customers remained without power, according to the utility.

This story was originally published September 2, 2025 at 10:24 AM.