\u201cThe year 2025 was just extraordinarily high in terms of outages,\u201d Cyrus Shahriari, who has been rallying the neighborhood to advocate for improvements, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n
Without any definitive answers, residents have been left to speculate why homes on Mossbrook Circle and a few nearby blocks in the West Moreland neighborhood\u00a0have been struck by roughly two-dozen outage events \u2014 lasting a few seconds to multiple hours \u2014 over the past year, according to an outage record tabulated by a Mossbrook resident. Peaking their suspicions that something is amiss on their local energy grid, Mossbrook residents note that homes standing just a block or two away often have\u00a0the lights on even when theirs\u00a0are out.<\/p>\n
\u201cMossbrook Avenue always seems to keep the power,\u201d Shahriari said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to understand why.\u201d<\/p>\n
Resident frustration over the longstanding issue seems to have surged to new heights in recent weeks, after a Christmas Eve storm triggered rolling blackouts in the area that lasted for days.<\/p>\n
Shahriari and others are asking\u00a0PG&E<\/a>\u00a0to provide answers and to carry out grid upgrades that might put an end to the outages. The problem has caused inconveniences and considerable anxiety for people who rely on electrically-powered medical devices, residents said.<\/p>\n In response, PG&E spokesperson Stephanie Magallon said most of the reported outages resulted from \u201cseveral distinct and unrelated events,\u201d including extreme weather and fallen trees.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will continue to review the recent outage data to see what improvements can be made to further support Mossbrook Circle neighborhood,\u201d Magallon told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n Residents said frequent power outages have been a longstanding problem in the neighborhood, which is crisscrossed by power lines held up by wooden utility poles. However, they seem to have gotten worse over the past two years.<\/p>\n While PG&E does not typically release historic outage records for individual homes, resident Bill Bumgarner compiled his own using his home\u2019s battery backup system, which automatically records all power outages.<\/p>\n According to his tabulation, his home experienced 24 outages in 2025, adding up to 55 total hours without power.<\/p>\n The rolling blackouts around Christmas \u2014 made worse by a PG&E substation fire in Saratoga \u2014 left Bumgarner\u2019s home without power for 21 hours over a three-day period. The same equipment failure led to blackouts for\u00a0thousands of others as well in the West Valley<\/a>.<\/p>\n In addition, Bumgarner\u2019s\u00a0records show power outages striking his home in July, August and September, all lasting seven hours or more. PG&E blamed the July and August outages on vegetation-related problems. Another 15 brief \u201cblip\u201d outages lasting a few seconds to a few minutes also occurred over the year, the records show.<\/p>\n \u2018An epidemic of pole failures\u2019<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the new year brought yet another major blackout to the neighborhood. Two power outages occurred Jan. 12, triggered when a falling tree brought down power lines.<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems when one critical point fails, it\u2019s our block that goes offline,\u201d Shahriari said.<\/p>\n The residents point to overgrown trees and aging utility equipment as possible culprits for the outages.<\/p>\n Mossbrook Circle resident Daniel Rosenberg said he\u2019s seen utility poles near his home deteriorate to the point that they were rotting and leaning to one side before being replaced.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s just an epidemic of pole failures,\u201d Rosenberg\u00a0told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n PG&E officials said the utility carries out regular\u00a0vegetation inspections<\/a>\u00a0and tree\u2011clearing work in the area.\u00a0A company representative told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight it\u00a0increased reliability investments<\/a>\u00a0in San Jose by 60% last year and is planning\u00a0hundreds of new upgrade projects<\/a>\u00a0over the coming year.<\/p>\n One such project in San Jose\u2019s Almaden Valley saw the utility relocate 6,500 feet of power lines underground. PG&E is planning similar work throughout the city, the official said.<\/p>\n The San Jose city manager\u2019s office deferred questions to PG&E.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Councilmember Rosemary Kamei, whose district includes Mossbrook Circle, said her office is looking into the outage complaints.<\/p>\n \u201cThe District 1 office has received a single complaint regarding this concern and is in communication with both city of San Jose staff and PG&E to investigate the issue and examine options,\u201d Kamei told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n In the meantime, Mossbrook Circle residents\u2019 patience is wearing thin with the flickering lights in their neighborhood.<\/p>\n \u201cHow can they look at that and allow that situation to continue?\u201d Bumgarner told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cThat seems negligent.\u201d<\/p>\n Contact Keith Menconi at\u00a0keith@sanjosespotlight.com\u00a0or @KeithMenconi on X.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/LNM-20260128-POWEROUTAGE-02.jpg\")
Residents living along Mossbrook Circle are asking PG&E to upgrade the power lines that traverse their neighborhood atop towering wooden utility poles. (Keith Menconi\/San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight)<\/p>\n