Squirrel causes neighborhood power outage on Tuesday

A squirrel was the culprit for a midday power outage on Tuesday which affected several communities in Central San Diego including Hillcrest.

San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) reports that over 45,000 people were affected by the disruption which began at about 12:30 pm and lasted for a few hours.

According to SDG&E spokeswoman Helen Gao, a squirrel came in contact with a conductor at Substation F located on El Cajon Boulevard.

People across San Diego were affected including  North Park, Hillcrest, Mission Hills, University Heights, Normal Heights, as well as other areas citywide.

Power was restored by 1:30 pm say reports, but some customers were complaining that electricity wasn’t back on until 3 pm in their areas.