Weather causes power outages for some Xcel customers

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Power was knocked out to thousands of Xcel Energy customers in the Twin Cities -- and salt was apparently the culprit.

About 600 Xcel customers are still without power, down from a peak of about 7,000 Sunday afternoon.

Xcel says the cause of the power outage is weather-related. A half-dozen power transformers were short-circuited because of damp weather combined with salt spray off the streets.

Some power poles caught fire when the transformers shorted out. The outage affected at least three areas of St. Paul and part of Oakdale, along with about 1,000 customers in northeast Minneapolis.

Crews are going neighborhood to neighborhood to make the repairs.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)