Over 350,000 without power in California after storm

FILE PHOTO: Workers clear an area of a fallen tree as a Pacific storm known as an “Atmospheric River” approaches northern California, bringing heavy rains and winds that could trigger widespread flooding, in downtown San Francisco, California, U.S., February 4, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

More than 350,000 homes and businesses were without electricity in California on Monday after a storm pounded the state with heavy rainfall and hurricane-force winds, initially knocking out power to more than one million customers, according to electric utilities and PowerOutage.us.

The storm is the second so-called Pineapple Express weather system, or atmospheric river, to hit the most populous U.S. state in the past week.

READ: Atmospheric river pounds California but seen as only the beginning

Pacific Gas and Electric Co (PG&E), the state’s biggest electric utility and a unit of PG&E Corp, restored power to more than a million customers, with 370,000 without electricity as of midday local time, PG&E spokesperson Jeff Smith said.

With about 3,000 PG&E workers attempting to repair the 248 poles and 150 transformers damaged in the storm, Smith said power restoration work could last into Tuesday.

The next day base power prices for Tuesday in California’s SP-15 hub were $52.13 per megawatt-hour (MWh), after rising to the highest in more than a week the previous day.

California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in eight counties with a combined population of more than 20 million people, and flash flood warnings were issued for parts of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

The U.S. National Weather Service’s Los Angeles office said the city saw its third-wettest day for the month of February since 1877 on Sunday, highlighting high risk for life-threatening and damaging flooding through Tuesday afternoon.