San Francisco Power Outage Affects 130,000 Customers; Restoration Efforts Underway

A significant power outage in San Francisco on Saturday left approximately 130,000 Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) customers without electricity, affecting nearly one-third of the city's residents and businesses.

The outage began around 1:09 p.m., impacting neighborhoods including the Richmond and Presidio districts, as well as areas around Golden Gate Park. By 11 p.m., PG&E had restored power to about 95,000 customers, with efforts continuing to address the remaining outages.

A fire at a PG&E substation located at 8th and Mission streets was reported at approximately 3:15 p.m. on Saturday. The San Francisco Fire Department responded to the incident, and the fire was contained without reported injuries. PG&E stated that the damage from the fire was significant and extensive, making repairs complex.

The outage led to widespread disruptions, including mass closures of restaurants and shops, darkened streetlights, and significant transit disruptions citywide. The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management advised residents to avoid nonessential travel and treat non-functioning traffic signals as four-way stops. Public transportation services, including BART and Muni, experienced station closures and delays due to the power failure.

As of Sunday morning, PG&E crews continued working to restore power to the remaining affected customers. The utility company has not provided a precise timeframe for full restoration, citing the complexity of the repairs.