PG&E Suffers Massive Power Outage in Berkeley

Update, 3:35 p.m: The lights are back on in Berkeley after an early afternoon power outage that affected about 35,000 customers.

PG&E spokesman Denny Boyles says the outage occurred at 1:46 p.m. after an equipment failure at a substation in Berkeley. The exact nature of the failure is still under investigation.

Boyles says power was restored throughout the outage area by 3 p.m. At the peak of the disruption, BART's Downtown Berkeley Station was closed and traffic signals were out at many intersections.

Boyles also says that the apparent scope of the outage was not as great as indicated on PG&E's online outage map, which had indicated lights were out as far north as San Pablo.

Update, 3:10 p.m.: The Downtown Berkeley BART Station has reopened, but lights are still out from the north edge of Oakland up to San Pablo.

Update, 2:50 p.m.: The latest updated map from PG&E shows that the extent of an East Bay power outage has grown, with the affected area now stretching from Berkeley north to Richmond and San Pablo. Adding up the numbers PG&E is reporting, close to 40,000 customers may be without power.

The utility says the cause is a "major equipment failure" -- though we don't have more detail than that right now.

Original post: PG&E has suffered a widespread power outage in Berkeley that's left 25,000 customers in the dark and prompted the shutdown of the city's Downtown BART Station.

BART advises that riders can still use the Ashby and North Berkeley stations, and buses to downtown are available. Traffic signals in much of the city are out, too. Drivers should treat all intersections with nonfunctional traffic lights as four-way stops.

KQED News associate Berkeleyside is also reporting on the outage and has pictures from around the city.