Several shops in Morro Bay had to close for the day due to a power outage that started at 6 a.m. on Monday.
The outage impacted 3,700 PG&E customers, including Gilligan’s Sandwich Shop owner Andy Zepeda, who came in to prepare his food for the day before opening.
“It’s usually about an hour to an hour and a half process before we open, so it’s crucial to the day’s operation for sure,” Zepeda said.
However, Zepeda was cautious not to open his refrigerators and let the cold air escape.
“There are thousands of dollars worth of meat, cheese, and vegetables, things of that nature that we keep in our refrigerators and freezers, so it’s just essential we keep the temperatures correct,” Zepeda said.
Luckily, the power at his business came on at 10 a.m., an hour before his shop was set to open.
PG&E says crews were upgrading a transformer near Morro Bay Boulevard, and to do so safely, they needed to turn off the power.
Cuesta College was also impacted by the outage.
“I kind of had to reorganize and reschedule my day because I was going to go hunker down and study,” said Vivian Morgan, Cuesta College student.
Morgan says she studies on campus every day and came to Morro Bay to find a new place to study.
“The power outage is bigger than I thought. I ended up going to Albertsons, and all the lights were off. Everyone was trying to check out. I left there and the two cafes I’ve been to, one of them was open, but they asked everyone to leave because of the power outage,” Morgan said.
In the event of a power outage, PG&E recommends unplugging your appliances to avoid damage when power is restored, avoiding the use of candles, taking precautions when using a generator, and knowing how to manually open your garage or any electric door.
Power was restored to all but one customer by 12:30 p.m.
