PG&E releases statement on power outage affecting thousands in Santa Cruz County

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) - PG&E has released a statement on the Santa Cruz County outage.

Shortly before 9 a.m. today, we began switching customers from one circuit to another to allow our crews to safely perform scheduled work. During the process, we encountered an issue that triggered an outage affecting approximately 19,000 customers in Santa Cruz County.

Our crews responded immediately and restored service to 2,000 customers within the first hour. As of now, fewer than 14,000 customers remain without power, and we are working as quickly and safely as possible to restore service to all affected customers

Thousands in Santa Cruz County without power

Thousands are without power in Santa Cruz County, according to the PG&E Outage Map.

17,992 customers are without power as first reported at 9:16 a.m. from Soquel, Aptos, Rio del Mar, and Corralitos

The cause of the unplanned outage has yet to be determined, with no estimated time of restoration.

This is a developing story.