The City of San Francisco recently experienced widespread power outages that left over 130,000 households and businesses in the dark, with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) scrambling to restore electricity following a substation fire. The outages affected the Presidio, the Richmond District, Golden Gate Park, and various downtown areas, as stated in a PG&E press release. Although efforts to restore power have been ongoing, more than 20,000 customers were still without electricity this morning.
Initial responses to mitigate the chaos included suspension of driverless Waymo services and BART and Muni trains bypassing stations without power. To add further complexity, street lights ceased functioning, and holiday decorations were left unlit. According to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle, the normally vibrant cityscape was masked by darkness, as observed across the Golden Gate Bridge.
In an update, PG&E relayed that crews had made significant progress, restoring power to approximately 110,000 customers. However, the damage caused by the substation fire at Eighth and Mission streets, which San Francisco Fire Department Lt. Mariano Elias described to the San Francisco Chronicle as having necessitated specialized firefighting equipment, complicates the restoration process. In light of these complexities, a precise timeline for full power restoration remains unclear.
Local businesses have been particularly hard hit by these outages, which occur during the peak of the holiday season. Restaurants and bars found themselves suddenly adapting to the blackout conditions, as Foghorn Taproom employee Samantha Lado told the San Francisco Chronicle, "It sucks," commenting on the inability to draw patrons for scheduled football games. Likewise, the blackout interrupted cultural events, abruptly ending a "Home Alone" performance at Davies Symphony Hall, as the lights went out.
