On Sunday morning, power was successfully restored to the majority of the 130,000 homes and businesses in San Francisco that were affected by a significant outage on Saturday. According to Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E), their outage map indicated that over 20,000 customers were still without electricity as of 5 a.m. PST, with utility crews working diligently to fully restore service.
The widespread outage began shortly after 1 p.m. on Saturday, impacting a large area in the northern part of the city. At its peak, this outage affected approximately one-third of PG&E's customers in San Francisco. The timing of this incident was particularly unfortunate as it coincided with one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
Social media and local news outlets reported widespread disruptions, including the closure of numerous restaurants and shops, as well as darkened street lights and unlit Christmas decorations. The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management took to X (formerly Twitter) to inform the public about “significant transit disruptions” occurring citywide. They advised residents to avoid nonessential travel and to treat non-functioning traffic signals as four-way stops.
In light of the power outage, Waymo, the operator of driverless ride-hailing vehicles, temporarily suspended its services. Social media users shared videos, including one that appeared to show a Waymo vehicle halted in the middle of an intersection, highlighting the challenges posed by the outage.
One significant cause of the blackouts was identified as a fire that broke out inside a PG&E substation located at 8th and Mission streets, which was reported by fire officials on X around 3:15 p.m.. The complete cause of the outage is still under investigation as of now.
By approximately 4 p.m. on Saturday, PG&E provided an update on X, stating that they had stabilized the grid and that no further outages were anticipated. Crews continued to work throughout the night to ensure that all customers would have their power restored as quickly as possible.
As the situation develops, residents are encouraged to stay informed through official channels for further updates on the restoration of services and any ongoing investigations related to the outage.