San Francisco outage leaves 130,000 without power as PG&E investigates cause
About one-third of the city’s PG&E customers affected; officials report a fire at a substation and warn of transit disruptions
A massive outage knocked out power to about 130,000 homes and businesses in San Francisco on Saturday, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said. The outage represented roughly one-third of the utility’s customers in the city and began in the northern neighborhoods of Richmond and Presidio and around Golden Gate Park in the early afternoon, spreading as the day progressed.
Social media posts and local outlets described mass closures of restaurants and shops, dark storefronts, and Christmas lights left unlit. The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management posted on X that there were significant transit disruptions citywide and urged residents to avoid nonessential travel and treat dark intersections as four-way stops.
Transit agencies said they were bypassing some Muni bus and BART stations because of the outages, complicating travel during a busy holiday period and prompting agencies to reroute services where possible.
Fire officials said a fire broke out inside a PG&E substation at 8th and Mission streets, with posts on X indicating the blaze occurred around 3:15 p.m. The cause of the fire and its relation to the wider outage were not immediately clear.
By about 4 p.m., PG&E posted that the power grid had been stabilized and that the company was not expecting additional customer outages. It cautioned that restoration could take time and did not provide a firm timeline for when all customers would have power.
There was no immediate public attribution of the outage’s cause from PG&E, and representatives did not respond to requests for comment seeking details on the incident or restoration estimates. Officials urged residents to rely on official updates as investigators review the events and any fault indicators at the substation involved.
As the city grappled with the outage, authorities warned of continuing traffic and transit challenges and urged residents to stay indoors if possible while crews work to restore service. Officials emphasized safety around potential hazards related to downed power lines and electrical equipment in affected neighborhoods.