A significant power failure struck San Francisco on Saturday, leaving approximately 130,000 homes and businesses without electricity, according to the utility provider Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E).
Scale and Spread of the Blackout
The outage began in the early afternoon, initially affecting the Richmond and Presidio neighbourhoods and areas surrounding the iconic Golden Gate Park. It subsequently expanded, casting a large portion of the city's northern sector into darkness. The scale of the failure impacted roughly one-third of PG&E's customer base within the city limits.
Local reports and social media described widespread consequences, including the closure of numerous restaurants and shops. The festive atmosphere was dampened as Christmas decorations and street lights went dark across affected areas.
Citywide Disruption and Emergency Response
The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management took to social media platform X to warn residents of "significant transit disruptions" occurring citywide. Officials urged the public to avoid non-essential travel and instructed drivers to treat inoperative traffic signals as four-way stops.
Transport agencies confirmed the outages forced adjustments to services, with some Muni bus routes and BART train stations being bypassed. The cause of the blackouts was not immediately clear, as PG&E did not initially comment.
Substation Fire Identified as a Cause
Later in the day, fire officials provided a critical update, posting on X at around 3:15 p.m. that at least some of the outages were triggered by a fire inside a PG&E substation located at 8th and Mission streets.
By approximately 4 p.m., PG&E announced it had managed to stabilise the power grid and did not anticipate further customer outages. However, the company stated it could not confirm whether power would be fully restored by the end of Saturday, leaving many residents uncertain.
Ongoing Impact and Unanswered Questions
The event, occurring on Sunday 21 December 2025, highlights vulnerabilities in urban energy infrastructure. While the immediate crisis was contained, the failure caused substantial disruption to daily life, commerce, and holiday preparations for a vast number of San Franciscans.
The focus now shifts to PG&E's investigation into the root cause of the substation fire and the subsequent widespread failure, as well as the timeline for complete restoration of services to all affected customers.
