UPDATE AUG. 6, 3 P.M.: Power has been restored to all customers in South Monterey County, many of whom were without electricity for more than seven hours today while PG&E crews worked to solve the problem.
UPDATE AUG. 6, 10 A.M.: More than 5,200 customers in the Greenfield area are without power this morning due to reports of arcing, according to an update from PG&E.
“The outage appears to be weather-related, amid the thick fog and dew in southern Monterey County this morning,” PG&E said. “When there is enough dust and particulate in the air near powerlines, it can create an arc and also flashing. This was the cause of damage to powerlines on Highway 101 in Greenfield yesterday and likely again today.”
Highway 101 at Greenfield is fully reopen after downed powerlines and a grass fire shut it down for several hours yesterday, Caltrans reported.
UPDATE AUG. 5, 2:20 P.M.: According to Greenfield Fire Department, PG&E is on scene and has de-energized the downed powerlines, which are going across the highway. Additional equipment from the Pismo area has been requested to work on the pole, with an estimated completion time in four to six hours.
Northbound traffic is being diverted via Central Avenue, while southbound traffic is being diverted through the Espinosa Road exit.
The latest outage numbers show that power has been restored to about 4,500 customers, with 5,500 still without power in South Monterey County.
***ORIGINAL STORY BELOW
SALINAS VALLEY — More than 10,000 customers are currently without power in South Monterey County, according to PG&E’s outage map.
As of Thursday afternoon, there are 6,337 customers affected by the outage in King City, followed by 3,639 in Soledad, 208 in Greenfield and 34 in Gonzales. There are also 173 customers in Salinas without power.
Soledad Police Department has asked residents to avoid the following areas in the city due to downed powerlines: 280 3rd St./Palm Ave., 148 Main/Soledad St., Ticino/Soledad St, 1200 block Walker Drive, 1141 Palm Ave., 700 Cordoba St. and 1300 block of Walker Drive.
In Greenfield, the northbound lanes of Highway 101 at Espinosa Road are closed due to a small grass fire and downed powerlines. Travelers are being diverted onto the northbound frontage road.
Caltrans said it does not know when the northbound lanes will reopen at this time.
Greenfield Mayor Lance Walker posted on social media that PG&E expects to have power restored by 2 p.m.
This is a developing story and will be updated with more information.
