A squirrel was the culprit behind a power outage that affected more than 11,000 PG&E customers in Walnut Creek and Lafayette Friday morning, according to a utility spokeswoman.
Power was restored to all 11,562 customers who lost service around 7:45 a.m., PG&E spokeswoman Tamar Sarkissian said.
More than 8,000 customers in the area were without power for about an hour Friday morning, according to utility representatives.
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Sarkissian said the outage was apparently caused by a squirrel in Walnut Creek that came into contact with a piece of electrical equipment connected to a bank of transformers.
PG&E sometimes sees similar wildlife-related outages in more rural areas of the state, where the utility has programs in place to prevent animals from disrupting electrical equipment, she said.
