The power was out from 5:14 p.m. Friday until nearly midnight according to PG&E spokesperson Susan Simon. Power was restored to groups of customers a bit at a time throughout the evening - "they were bringing it back in chunks," Simon said.
Precisely how a squirrel managed to shut off the power to nearly 3,000 people was not immediately known, Simon said. Though she admitted the pesky critter "created grief in the substation."