SAN FRANCISCO — A fire at a Pacific Gas and Electric substation knocked out electricity to approximately 130,000 customers Saturday, plunging nearly one-third of San Francisco into darkness and triggering widespread transit disruptions during the busy holiday season.
The cascading outages began at 9:40 a.m. in the Richmond and Presidio neighborhoods before spreading throughout the western portions of the city. By mid-afternoon, the blackout had engulfed The Presidio, Seacliff, Outer and Inner Richmond, Golden Gate Park, the Panhandle, Inner and Outer Sunset, and part of West of Twin Peaks, the utility’s outage map showed. Portions of the Western Addition and Downtown also lost service.
San Francisco Fire Department crews responded to a one-alarm blaze at PG&E’s substation at 8th and Mission streets at approximately 3:15 p.m. Firefighters worked to deenergize equipment and suppress flames using carbon dioxide, though the utility has not disclosed what triggered either the fire or the broader power failures.
The outage represents a significant infrastructure failure for a major American city, exposing vulnerabilities in aging electrical systems that serve dense urban populations. San Francisco’s grid relies heavily on strategically placed substations, and the failure of a single facility demonstrated how quickly localized equipment problems can cascade into citywide emergencies.
PG&E stabilized the power grid by 4 p.m., preventing additional customer outages, the company stated on X. By 11 p.m. local time, the utility had restored service to approximately 100,000 customers, with the remaining 30,000 expected to regain power overnight. The company confirmed no injuries resulted from the incidents.
The blackout paralyzed San Francisco’s public transportation network during peak weekend travel hours. Bay Area Rapid Transit closed Powell Street and Civic Center stations due to the power failure, while San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency suspended Muni Metro and Central Subway operations, according to transit officials.
Mayor Daniel Lurie announced at 9 p.m. that the two BART stations were reopening and Muni services were resuming, though he cautioned that lingering effects would continue impacting operations. “If you don’t need to travel tonight, please stay off the roads and stay inside,” Lurie said, noting that additional officers would be deployed at intersections and corridors to maintain safety.
The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management warned that traffic signals might be affected by the outage and instructed drivers to treat intersections as four-way stops. Waymo temporarily suspended its autonomous vehicle services in the city due to the disruption.
The timing could not have been worse for San Francisco’s retail sector. Social media posts and local media documented mass closures of restaurants and shops, while darkened street lights and Christmas decorations left commercial corridors unusually dim during what should be one of the busiest shopping weekends before the holidays. The Associated Press reported widespread business disruptions across affected neighborhoods.
The emergency management department advised residents to avoid nonessential travel as “significant transit disruptions” unfolded citywide. Transportation agencies rerouted some Muni bus lines and bypassed several BART train stations to work around the power failures.
The incident raises questions about infrastructure resilience in California’s second-largest city, particularly as PG&E continues grappling with its role in previous disasters, including devastating wildfires sparked by equipment failures. While Saturday’s outage caused no reported injuries, it underscored the fragility of urban power systems and the ripple effects when critical infrastructure fails during high-demand periods.
The scale of the blackout—affecting roughly one-third of PG&E’s San Francisco customer base—highlights the concentration of load on individual substations and the potential for single points of failure to create widespread disruption. Urban planners and utility regulators may need to reassess grid redundancy as cities grow denser and more dependent on reliable electricity for everything from transit to holiday commerce.
PG&E has faced mounting scrutiny over equipment reliability following its bankruptcy related to wildfire liability and subsequent efforts to modernize infrastructure. Saturday’s episode, while contained to a single day, reinforced concerns about whether California’s largest utility has adequately invested in preventing equipment failures that can cripple major population centers.
CBS/AP
