Thousands of Penelec customers living in the City of Erie and Millcreek township lost power Saturday afternoon.

It happened when a tree fell on a power line near E. Gore Rd. and Old French Rd. substation just before 3 p.m.

As many as 30,000 customers lost power for a short time, but Penelec had many customers back online within an hour.

Power was restored for nearly everyone by 7:15 p.m.

Gannon University officials said the power did go out for a brief period of time during its commencement, but the ceremony continued with auxiliary cords and megaphones but the ceremony was able to continue.

The Erie Seawolves were without power, but they quickly got back up and running and were still on to start their afternoon game at 4:05 p.m.