Cause of Santa Cruz outages metallic balloon in equipment

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV) UPDATE JUNE 17, 2022, 11:50 a.m.-- PG&E said the cause of an outage that left over 6,400 customers without power in Santa Cruz was a metallic ballon getting caught in power equipment.

The balloon got tangled near Houts Drive and PG&E said they "are beginning repairs and diligently working to restore power to impacted customers as quickly as possible."

"With graduation season in full swing, we are seeing an uptick in metallic balloon-caused outages on the Central Coast," said PG&E. "With Father’s Day this weekend, there’s added risk that more Mylar balloons that are not secured properly could fly into power lines and cause outages.

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PG&E said that currently, at least 6,403 people are without power in Santa Cruz.

They are investigating the cause, and power is estimated to return by 12:45 p.m.

PG&E is working to restore power.