Power goes out downtown

An underground transformer on South Coast Highway failed at 11:04 a.m. Tuesday, dousing the lights for some 2,000 Southern California Edison customers in the area of downtown Laguna Beach.

Most of the area was restored to power by noon, but about 40 customers between Mermaid and Cleo Streets on South Coast Highway will be without power indefinitely while the transformer is repaired or replaced, said Steve Conroy, spokesman for Southern California Edison.

“This will be an extended outage [for the 40 customers] and they could be without service until late afternoon or early evening,” Conroy said.