Petaluma power outage affects 17,670 customers

Over 17,000 customers in Petaluma were without power for several hours Sunday after a bird flew into PG&E equipment, officials said.

Initially, 17,670 customers lost power. By about 1:30 p.m., there were 1,570 customers that remained without power, said a PG&E spokeswoman. Their power was expected to be restored by about 2:30 p.m.

Generally, PG&E equipment is equipped with “flight diverters” for animal safety, though, this particular bird managed to bypass the protections, the spokeswoman said.

“This work helps protect wildlife and helps improve the safety and reliability of the electric system for customers,” PG&E said.