Power outages affect thousands in Milwaukee area

As many as 6,000 We Energies customers in southeastern Wisconsin lost power Sunday afternoon and evening when snow bent tree limbs into power lines.

The power outages began happening around 3:30 p.m. and continued through until 7 p.m. as We Energies crews worked to restore electricity.

The largest power outage was to around 1,800 customers in Franklin and Muskego and around 640 customers in Greendale. As of 10:15 p.m. Sunday crews were trying to restore power to 1,100 customers in South Milwaukee and Oak Creek, said We Energies spokesman Brian Manthey.

"Most of the outages have been either breakers or blown fuses because tree limbs have come in contact with lines because of the heavy snow," said Manthey.

He estimated the total number without power was between 5,000 and 6,000 customers. Most of the outages occurred after the Packers beat the Texans so fans didn't lose TV reception until the game was over.

"Fortunately it was a noon kickoff," Manthey said. "And it took a while for the weight of the snow to take effect on some of the tree limbs which bent enough to get into the power lines."