Rough start in KP Saturday as widespread power outage puts thousands in the dark
The good news is if you live in Key Peninsula, and were up before sunrise Saturday morning, you could see a star-filled clear night sky unpolluted by lights from homes.
On the down side, KP residents were without power for hours Saturday in a widespread electrical outage.
Peninsula Light, the electrical utility that serves the area, blamed the outage on a “large tree” on electrical lines.
The outage started around 5 a.m., with residents on social media reported hearing a large “boom” in the Lackey Road area. PenLight’s outage map at the peak of the event showed the affected area covering Key Peninsula, indicating that thousands were without power.
At least one resident encouraged others to make the most of the darkness not long after the outage started.
“If you can & it is still dark, go outside and enjoy a magnificent view of the moon & stars,” one resident wrote on the Key Peninsula community Facebook page.
Additionally, those leaving KP toward Gig Harbor/Tacoma for an early morning commute faced a temporary closure on eastbound state Route 16, following an earlier fatal head-on crash.
The highway reopened around the same time as many residents saw their power restored.
Electrical service returned around 7:30 a.m. Saturday for many in the area. By 8:18 a.m. PenLight reported on social media that they were close to restoring power to the last 110 affected customers in the Lackey Road area. Additional crews were sent to an outage affecting residents in another area, as well.
Later Saturday morning., the utility said it was still working on issues discovered in the aftermath.
“The original outage due to tree this morning caused a ripple effect of blown fuses,” it reported in a post on X. “Crews are actively responding to affected members and making repairs as soon as possible.”
