Power Outage in Silicon Valley

SAN JOSE — An hourlong power failure today blacked out hundreds of Silicon Valley companies and snarled commuter traffic for thousands of high-tech workers. The outage was caused by a malfunctioning circuit breaker in north San Jose, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. spokesman Bill Leonard said.

Leonard said 572 businesses, almost all of them industrial firms, suffered power outages, and traffic lights were also put out of commission, causing major traffic tie-ups. Most customers had their power restored by 8 a.m.