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D'oh! San Diego & Southwestern U.S. Blackout Blamed On Just One Worker
Power is back up and running in San Diego after yesterday's massive blackout which is being called the worst in our state's history. Not only were San Diego Gas & Electric's 1.4 million customers left in the dark, but millions of people in Arizona, California's Orange and Imperial Counties, and even Mexico, were affected. What caused the power to go out? Turns out, it was one worker in Yuma, Arizona.
It began when an employee of Arizona Public Service was doing routine maintenance, and replaced some monitoring equipment. That caused a brief power outage in Western Arizona.
But when that worker and the rest of the crew tried to get the power back, well...it was the short circuit felt by millions. "Authorities say the outage should have been limited to the Yuma area. They were investigating why it wasn't contained," points out San Diego 6.
"Nice going, anonymous utility worker in Yuma," remarks Slate.
As a result of that major, big time, who woulda known oops, and estimated 4 to 5 million folks lost power. Flights were grounded, people got stuck on rides at Sea World, traffic lights were out causing major gridlock, and a few tempers shorted out, too.
Outside of San Diego, the power came back on last night, while in San Diego, SDGE has fully restored power to all of their customers. Yay!
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