Thousands of Chula Vista residents were hit with power outages Wednesday morning, the outages impacting some traffic signals and, in turn, causing some issues on the roadways for commuters.
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) confirmed more than 3,000 customers were without power in parts of west and east Chula Vista, and Bonita, due to an outage that struck around 4:10 a.m. Crews expected to have power restored to those affected by 7 a.m.
Meanwhile, parts of south Chula Vista, Castle Park and Otay were also experiencing outages with nearly another 500 customers without power. Service restoration in those areas was also expected to happen around 7 a.m., SDG&E said.
SDG&E said all three outages were unplanned and crews were trying to determine the cause.
As of 6:05 a.m, SDG&E officials said some unspecified equipment had been damaged at a substation in Chula Vista, but they had not determined what caused that damage. Crews said they hoped to have the power restored within the next hour-and-a-half.
SDG&E crews ultimately determined debris had come down on power lines at the Montgomery substation, leading to the outage. Officials said the cause may have been weather-related as rain and strong winds swept the county Wednesday morning.
The Chula Vista Police Department (CVPD) said impacted neighborhoods included some east of Broadway, west of Interstate 805 and south of D to L streets.
Police said commuters should brace themselves for delays if driving in the areas, as some traffic signals were not working properly due to the power outages.
Power was fully restored to all customers by 7:30 a.m., officials confirmed.
Meanwhile, residents in a few other parts of San Diego County also experienced unrelated power outages Wednesday morning, including approximately 26 customers in parts of Granite Hills, Bostonia, east El Cajon and Crest. That outage was first reported around 1:20 a.m. and was expected to last through 7 a.m. The cause is under investigation.
In portions of Ocean Beach, Sunset Cliffs and Point Loma, an outage around 4:35 a.m. left nearly 500 customers without power after a smoldering power pole knocked down several power lines near Guizot and Alhambra streets. San Diego Fire-Rescue Department (SDFD) Firefighters were called to the area to investigate the incident, while San Diego Police Department (SDPD) helped provide traffic control.
SDG&E said power in that outage was expected to be restored by 7:30 a.m.
