UPDATE: Power Restored to Murrieta Residents

UPDATED at 9:40 p.m.:

Electricity was restored to all Murrieta customers as of 8:04 p.m. following a large outage Tuesday, a Southern California Edison spokesperson confirmed.

The outage—bordered by Hancock Avenue to the west and Interstate 215 to the east—was caused by failed underground equipment, according to Scott Andresen with SCE.

"That is why it took a little longer to repair," Andresen told Patch. "They had to dig to get to it."

By 6 p.m., power had been restored to all but 72 of the initial 1,832 customers affected.

UPDATED at 6:30 p.m.:

Seventy-two customers remained without power in Murrieta as of 6:07 p.m. following an unplanned outage Tuesday afternoon, according to Southern California Edison.

The utility company had identified and was working to fix the problem that caused the outage to strike at about 2:58 p.m., halting power to nearly 2,000 customers near Hancock Avenue and Las Brisas Road.

UPDATED at 5:35 p.m:

At least 1,022 customers in Murrieta were still without electricity as of 5:30 p.m., according to an official with Southern California Edison.

The area affected was bordered to the north by Jacarte Drive, to the south by Las Brisas Road, to the east by Interstate 215 and to the west by Hancock Avenue, according to David J. Song, an SCE spokesperson.

The outage occurred at 2:58 p.m. and technicians were still trying to pinpoint the cause, Song told Patch.

"We have a line crew standing by so once they identify the issue they can begin repairing it," Song said.

There was no estimated time for total restoration.

In the meantime, they were trying to bring as many customers as possible back on by switching circuits, he said.

ORIGINAL POST:

A power outage was affecting customers in Murrieta Tuesday afternoon.

The outage was reported at 2:58 p.m., according to Southern California Edison, which estimated 1,832 were without power.

As of 4:07 p.m., SCE did not know the estimated restoral time. The utility company was still looking into what caused the outage.

Residents and businesses near Hancock Avenue and Las Brisas Road, near Avaxat Elementary, were affected, according to the report.

No major intersections were affected, according to Murrieta police Lt. Rob Firmes.