Power Blackout In Los Angeles

From the AP wire:

A large portion of Los Angeles was blacked out Monday when electrical power was lost. The power got knocked out shortly before 1 p.m. after two power surges.

Traffic lights throughout downtown and the San Fernando Valley were not working, causing major traffic problems, according to video from helicopter news crews.

Downtown highrises also were darkened.

The city's department of water and power said it was investigating the cause and extent of the outage.

Stay tuned. Now might be a good time to mention that NEI President and CEO Skip Bowman will be addressing Town Hall LA tomorrow at Noon on "Why America Needs Nuclear Energy Now!" The address is at the Omni Los Angeles. Click here to register. And remember to come back tomorrow for a complete transcript of the speech.

UPDATE: Lots of reports coming in from LA describing what's happening. Here's one from Blogging LA:

just got off the phone with a friend who said that every traffic light in the city might be out. ok, maybe not all of them but at least those on Glendale blvd north of Sunset and on MLK near the 101. This must be the terrorist attack we've been threated with.

update: all sunset is out in silverlake but building power as well. koga just called and said wilshire / miracle mile is dark.

For more click here and here. Here's another report from LA Observed:

Much of Los Angeles has been without electricity since just after 1 p.m. (it's now 1:50). The DWP can't yet say what happened. Traffic lights are out in parts of downtown, the Valley and the Westside at least, so be careful driving. Radio stations went off the air temporarily, cell phone coverage is spotty, and numerous people are apparently trapped in elevators. Santa Monica and many areas not served by the city Department of Water and Power are not affected. (I'm holed up in the Starbucks on Ocean Park, where no one even notices the blackout next door in L.A.)

As always, to keep up with the latest, check Google News. More later if warranted.

UPDATE: Skip Bowman was scheduled to do an editorial board meeting at the LA Times today, but they've cancelled on account of the blackout and rescheduled it as a conference call later this week.

ANOTHER UPDATE: From the LA Times:

A wide-ranging power outage, set off when a cable was accidentally cut, darkened large sections of downtown Los Angeles and many parts of the San Fernando Valley shortly after noon today, authorities said.

Lee Sapaden, a spokesman for the county's Office of Emergency Management, said the massive power failure was caused after an employee "inadvertently cut a power cable" at a DWP substation in West L.A.

Follow the blackout online with Technorati. Here's more from i66.com:

CNN is reporting that the LAPD is now on a modified tactical alert, which means no police officers are going home until power is restored. A source in the LAPD is telling them that the LA Water and Power Authority has told them that a worker cut a line in the San Fernando Valley. (If so, one imagines that worker is D-E-A-D if the power outage itself is any indication) A number of people are trapped in high rise elevators and fire departments are being dispatched to try to get them out.

here's the latest from the AP:

Utility workers connected the wrong wires and caused a blackout across major portions of Los Angeles on Monday afternoon, trapping people in elevators and snarling traffic at intersections, authorities said.

Hundreds of thousands of people were affected by the resulting power surge and outages, which were reported from downtown west to the Pacific Coast and north into the San Fernando Valley.

Several workers who were installing an automated transmission system connected the wrong wires, according to Ron Deaton, general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

"They connected it to another line that was not expecting that much electricity," he said. No injuries were reported.

Some power was restored within an hour; Deaton said he expected all power to be restored by 5 p.m.

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy, Environment, Energy, Politics, Technology, Economics, Electricity, California, Los Angeles, Blackout, Power Outage