The Register Star is reporting the power outage that left thousands of Columbia County residents in the dark Wed., Oct. 30, was caused by a piece of faulty equipment at a substation near Hudson. The blackout began shortly before 8 a.m. Power was restored to all customers by 11 a.m., according to a National Grid spokesman. Customers in Hudson, Claverack and Stottville were affected. The power failure temporarily silenced WGXC's Hudson studio, but the station remained on the air from its Acra studio instead until early afternoon. The Hudson City School District called its buses back and closed for the day. Early dismissals began at 9:15 a.m., according to the district Web site. Read the full story in the Register Star.