Here’s what caused Richland’s sudden power outage Saturday night

A downed power line was responsible for about 26,000 SCE&G customers losing electricity Saturday night.

The line came down after a part of the power pole supporting it broke at about 11:05 p.m., SCE&G spokesman Eric Boomhower said. This happened in a spot a little west of the Eau Claire area, just off S.C. 215.

Most customers had power back within 45 minutes, but as of Sunday around noon, about 50 customers were still without electricity. SCE&G had crews out Sunday afternoon working to restore power to those remaining homes.

It wasn’t clear Sunday what caused the pole to break, Boomhower said, but crews were able to rule out one possibility.

“There was no indication we had any kind of weather issues in the area,” Boomhower said.