PG&E services restored after 20,000-plus customers affected in Fresno, Clovis
More than 20,000 customers were without power Wednesday at the peak of an outage in northeast Fresno and parts of Clovis.
The power was restored just before 5 p.m. after disruptions to traffic and several facilities, including Fresno State and the Save Mart Center. The outage was reportedly caused by equipment failure due to heat.
Pacific Gas & Electric Company spokesman Denny Boyles said equipment failure at a transmission substation near East Bullard Avenue and North First Street caused the outage.
“We have numerous workers either at the substation now or on the way to transfer power to other undamaged circuits and repair the failed circuit breaker,” Boyles said in an email.
The official number of customers without power was initially 21,996.
The outage, reported at 1:30 p.m., covered Fresno State and several neighborhoods, extending northward to West Herndon Avenue and east of Highway 41.
Fresno State closed its campus for the day at 2 p.m. due to the outage. The university reported around 3:10 p.m. that power was back. Classes and campus operations will resume at 7 a.m. Thursday. The Campus Pointe plaza was also affected by the outage.
The outage also included the Save Mart Center, where the Hoover High School graduation was set to start at 4 p.m. However, the ceremony was pushed back by the outage.
The lights were back on at the event center as of 4 p.m. and the public was kept out of the venue until power was restored, according to Leslie Loewen, Fresno Unified campus culture manager.
Loewen said the students taking part in the graduation were given water and snacks, and a backup generator kept some lights on during the outage.
Sunnyside High School was also having its graduation at the Save Mart Center at 8 p.m.
Duncan Polytechnical High School was holding its graduation at 7 p.m. at the Saroyan Theater in downtown Fresno.
This story was originally published June 5, 2019 at 2:21 PM.
