Off and On and Off and On: PG&E power struggles
By Debra Moore
Power outages impacted Quincy, East Quincy and Plumas Sierra Rural Electric customers into Graeagle off and on yesterday — and they weren’t part of PG&E’s public safety power outages.
It all seemed to begin with a transformer in East Quincy. ” A transformer in my front yard exploded around 8 a.m.,” said an East Quincy resident. “Pieces were falling and there was that hot electrical smell in the air.” The resident said she heard a “loud boom” so she could tell it wasn’t a planned PG&E shut off.
That was just the beginning of daylong tribulations for the utility that impacted Plumas Sierra customers until they could be shifted to an alternate power source coming in from Nevada.
Another transformer blew last night near Sierra Park in Quincy and set a small fire. And, according to Plumas County Sheriff Todd Johns, PG&E crews were dealing with damaged lines in the Feather River Canyon. It was difficult to get news out of the utility company yesterday — as even county supervisors and the county administrator discovered — when they sought to determine the source of the problem and when power would be restored.
After several on and off again teases, power was restored late last night, though some PSREC customers are expected to be without power this morning for planned work.
