SAN DIEGO — Utility crews brought electricity back to much of California, Arizona and Mexico on Friday, a day after a power outage left millions in the dark, paralyzed freeways and halted flights at San Diego’s airport.
Officials, however, warned that the electrical grid was still too fragile and asked residents and businesses to go easy on — or even put off using — major appliances, such as air conditioners.
"Conservation will really help reduce the strain," said Stephanie McCorkle at the California Independent System Operator, which manages the power grid. "Put off doing your major chores until California is fully restored."
Electricity was restored in San Diego early Friday, signaling that the blackout was essentially over because most of the affected customers were in the nation’s eighth-largest city.
City schools, state universities and community colleges in the area remained shuttered. City beaches were also closed because the blackout caused a 3.2-million sewage spill.
Mexico’s electrical utility said the lights are on for 1.1 million customers, or 97 percent of those who lost power. Power was also restored to all 56,000 customers in Yuma, Ariz.
The San Diego area was hit especially hard with power severed about 4 p.m. Thursday to all of San Diego Gas & Electric Co.’s 1.4 million household and business customers, the company said.
That left residents sweltering without air conditioners and paralyzing some San Diego freeway and airport traffic.
The outage extended into southern Orange County, across California’s inland deserts, as far east as Yuma and into Mexico. The region is home to 6 million people, though it was impossible to say exactly how many had lost power.
The outage occurred after an electrical worker removed a piece of monitoring equipment at a power substation in southwest Arizona, officials at Phoenix-based Arizona Public Service Co. said.
It was unclear why that mishap, which normally would have been isolated, sparked such a widespread outage. The company said that would be the focus of an investigation.
"This was not a deliberate act. The employee was just switching out a piece of equipment that was problematic," said Daniel Froetscher, an APS vice president.
Associated Press Writers contributing to this report include Elliot Spagat in San Diego; Gillian Flaccus in Orange County; Shaya Mohajer and Greg Risling in Los Angeles; Walter Berry, Paul Davenport and Michelle Price in Phoenix and Mariana Martinez in Tijuana.
Comments