Entergy says about 7,800 customers lost electricity early this morning.
The power provider's website showed:
Outage Start Time: Mar 04, 05:56 AM
Estimated Restoration Time: Mar 04, 08:00 AM
Comments: An outage has been reported in your area. Additional information will be provided when available. We apologize for this inconvenience.
The electrical outage spread from the French Quarter through the Marigny into Gentilly, the 7th Ward and the Bywater.
Spokesperson Beau Tidwell told WWL First News, "This was caused by a customer cutting into a service pole with a chainsaw."
Entergy later updated the estimated restoration time to 10:30am.
As of about 10:30am, all but about 100 customers had been restored.
Tidwell says when workers got to the scene they found signs of sabotage.
"Crews discovered a fallen pole at 3635 Pleasure Street near Alvar Street. That pole had been cut using a chainsaw, which was still embedded in the pole."