Journal Staff Writer

Business halted for employees of A+ Properties and Appraisal in Auburn Wednesday morning, as the office was one of 5,800 PG&E customers hit by a power outage.

The outage was a headache for employees at the firm, where phones and computers were out of service, said employee Jim Ellis.

?If you don?t get phone calls and you can?t use your computers, you?re in big trouble,? he said. ?It cost us a couple of hours of time, I guess.?

The outage was caused by a squirrel, said PG&E Spokeswoman Jann Taber. A similar squirrel-related blackout occurred in January, when a squirrel broke into a PG&E substation and caused more than 14,000 locals to do without power for a few hours.

?Critters get in there,? said Jann Taber, PG&E spokeswoman. ?The systems are exposed and they?re outside, so there?s really nothing you can do to keep them out.?

In Wednesday?s incident, a squirrel found its way into a power bank in the Auburn substation, turning the lights out for six power circuits in the area.

?A circuit is like a string of Christmas lights, with the customers being the lights,? Taber said. ?Each substation has six of those circuits and each circuit usually has 1,000 to 2,000 customers.?

The power went out at 7:32 a.m. and came back on at 10:55 a.m. The length of the outage was necessary because each circuit had to be tested for safety before it was turned on, Taber said.

Office Manager Lindsay Hildebrandt said employees could only work on scheduling.

?I had to come in late because there was nothing to do without power,? she said. ?It was kind of a scene this morning.?

While the lights came on for A+ Appraisal, Taber said she couldn?t say the same for the squirrel.

?Obviously, the squirrel didn?t make it,? she said.