Lights out in Lakeport

LAKEPORT - A squirrel was responsible for a power outage in Lakeport that put 2,875 customers in the dark Friday night PG&E said Saturday.

The power was out from 5:14 p.m. Friday until nearly midnight according to PG&E spokesperson Susan Simon. Power was restored to groups of customers a bit at a time throughout the evening - "they were bringing it back in chunks," Simon said.

Precisely how a squirrel managed to shut off the power to nearly 3,000 people was not immediately known, Simon said. Though she admitted the pesky critter "created grief in the substation."

jjensen@lakeconews.com