UPDATE: Power Restored to More Than 2,000 in Murrieta

UPDATE 3 p.m.: More than 2,000 customers in Murrieta were restored power after an hour and 10 minutes, Southern California Edison is now reporting.

The outage started at 12:06 p.m. and ended at 1:16 p.m., according to Gil Alexander, SCE spokesperson.

Alexander confirmed that a contractor--not from SCE--damaged a cable while they were digging.

ORIGINAL STORY:

A power outage occurred in Murrieta just after noon Friday when a contractor damaged a Southern California Edison line.

The accident was reported at 12:09 p.m. on California Oaks Road, north of Madison Avenue, according to Scott Andresen with Southern California Edison.

Andresen said 2,337 were initially without power.

As of 1:15 p.m., he said some power was restored but did not have an exact number of those still without power.

The outage was affecting residences and businesses in the area bordered by Via Segovia on the north, Grimaud Court on the east, Jefferson on the south and Pinedale Way to the west.

No schools were without power, according to Karen Parris, spokeswoman for the Murrieta Valley Unified School District.

Andresen said crews are working to repair the damage, but did not have a time for total restoration.

The outage affected some traffic lights on California Oaks Road, according to Murrieta police Lt. Tony Conrad. Signs were placed out for motorists at the affected lights, and police were helping with traffic control while SCE crews worked to repair the damage, Conrad said.