Power outages cause Chevron refinery flaring, Richmond High School closure

RICHMOND, Calif. (KGO) -- There were two major power outages in Richmond this morning. Officials say they are not related but both had a huge impact.

The first one happened at the Chevron refinery at 6:20 a.m. The outage caused flaring and the refinery sent out a Level 1 on the Community Warning System which is the lowest level. The refinery explained to residents that flaring is designed to relieve pressure and keep things running safely. The cause of the power outage has not been announced. PG&E said the outage did not involve the utility's equipment.

The second outage happened at Richmond High School. Administrators sent out a tweet after 8 a.m. announcing that classes were cancelled. They also put a sign in the school's front door that read "No light. No School."

Destiny Whitmore took the bus to school and didn't realize classes were cancelled until she saw the sign in the door.

"I didn't know anything about this. I am walking up like, no light no school- what does that mean? Oh my God the lights went off or something?" she said.

She was disappointed she didn't hear about it earlier.

"I wish I could've known. I could've stayed in bed a little longer," she said.

A PG&E spokesperson said the outage was not the utility's fault. The issue happened on the customer side of the equipment.

The school's assistant principal was on campus but said he could not comment and directed us to the district spokesperson.

We have not heard back from the spokesperson.