PG&E: Rohnert Park power outage caused by balloon

An outage that zapped power for nearly 3,000 homes and businesses on Tuesday in Rohnert Park and Cotati was caused by a balloon floating into a power line, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. officials said.|
MATT PERA
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

An outage that zapped power for nearly 3,000 homes and businesses on Tuesday in Rohnert Park and Cotati was caused by a balloon floating into a power line, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. officials said.

When metallic balloons touch power lines, they sometimes “conduct electricity and cause an outage,” which was likely the case on Tuesday, said PG&E spokeswoman Deanna Contreras.

The outage started around 3:45 p.m. and affected about 2,820 PG&E customers, Contreras said.

PG&E crews restored power for groups of homes and businesses throughout the afternoon. All the affected customers had power by 9 p.m., according to Contreras.

You can reach Staff Writer Matt Pera at matthew.pera@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @Matt__Pera.

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.
Send a letter to the editor