It's been a frustrating holiday for thousands of PG&E customers in the Bay Area.
The utility says this weekend's hot weather led to overheated transformers that ultimately triggered power outages.
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WATCH HERE"Usually when it's cool at night, the transformers that serve our customers and neighborhoods, they get a break and they get to cool down a bit, but with hot nights, they get usage day and night," PG&E spokesperson Paul Moreno said.
As of Monday morning, about 230 households in the East Bay were without power, down from roughly 11,000 on Sunday.
Some of those customers said they're very frustrated by what feels like more heat-related power outages.
For the Koester family, Monday was the second day of takeout food. The power has been restored at their Orinda home after outages on Sunday, but the power didn't come back in time, forcing them to throw out most of their groceries.
"They say not to open your refrigerator, so we didn't," Jill Cooper Koester said. "But after four hours, most of the things go bad."
The utility says crews responded as quickly as possible, but for some frustrated customers, the bigger question is why PG&E seems to have so many weather-related outages.
Moreno said PG&E does regular maintenance on transformers and will replace them when necessary, but he said issues can arise between the last inspection and a weather event.
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SIGN UP "Over time, transformers that were installed say in the 60s, 70s and 80s, they often have a very good and long, productive life, but they can get a little bit stressed out during an extreme heat event," he said.
Neighborhoods in Walnut Creek were also impacted by the outages. Resident Glenn Wood said he knows it's only a matter of time before it happens again.
"It’s frustrating that we have one hot day and then 3,000 people lose power in this area," he said.
