PG&E outages affect more than 27,000 Central Coast customers. Some are still without power
.png "More than 350 Atascardero residents are still waiting for power to be restored after a car damaged a pole Saturday night.")
San Luis Obispo County experienced two unrelated power outages Saturday and Sunday that left a total of 27,818 customers across the Central Coast without power.
The first outage was reported around 6:15 p.m. Saturday, after a third party, not related to PG&E, damaged a transmission line in the process of cutting down a tree, according to PG&E meteorologist John Lindsey.
As a result, 27,455 customers in the Santa Maria, Pismo Beach and Oceano areas were left without power for several hours. All power was restored by 9:30 p.m., according to Lindsey.
Another outage was reported just after 11 p.m. Saturday night in west Atascadero, affecting 363 customers around Highway 41 who were still without power Sunday.
According to the PG&E outage map, the second outage was likely caused by a car crashing into a PG&E pole and unrelated to the power outage in South County.
A PG&E repair crew was working on-site Sunday and hoped to have power restored by 5 p.m.
PG&E recommends people stay prepared for power outages by keeping a flashlight with extra batteries in a convenient location, turning off heat-producing appliances during an outage and keeping refrigerator and freezer doors closed to better preserve food. For a full list of PG&E’s recommendations or to sign up for proactive outage alerts visit their website at www.pge.com.
This story was originally published February 24, 2019 at 10:45 AM.