An unplanned outage cut power to thousands of customers in San Francisco’s Outer Richmond and Sea Cliff neighborhoods this morning, abruptly plunging homes, businesses, and parts of the already dimly lit Lands End coastal trails into darkness. Neighbors reported dead traffic lights and flickering service as utility crews rushed to the west side, while city emergency staff and PG&E teams spent the morning working to restore power and check in on vulnerable residents and small businesses.
Outage timeline and scope
Pacific Gas and Electric said electricity went out at about 8:54 AM, initially knocking service offline for more than 3,600 customers in the Sea Cliff and Outer Richmond areas. By mid-morning, the company had restored power to more than a third of those customers, leaving roughly 2,200 still without electricity while technicians worked to isolate the problem. The utility projected an estimated full restoration time of 12:30 p.m., according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
City alerts and response
The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management posted on X about a “large, unplanned” outage and urged residents to stick with official channels for safety information and traffic updates. Officials directed people to PG&E’s live outage map and customer hotlines for the most current restoration estimates and to report any hazards, consistent with guidance in PG&E’s outage center.
A large, unplanned power outage is impacting the Richmond/Sea Cliff neighborhood.
— San Francisco Department of Emergency Management (@SF_emergency) March 15, 2026
Know where to check outage updates. Visit PG&E’s Outage Center or call 1-800-743-5002 for real-time outage maps, updates, and estimated restoration times. You can also sign up to receive outage… pic.twitter.com/6uxNKhFfUK
Why neighbors are on edge
Residents on the west side say this latest outage feels like one more episode in a winter full of disruptions, a pattern that has left homeowners and small businesses frustrated and wary of shifting timelines for getting the lights back on. Local reporting has documented repeat outages in the Richmond and Sunset districts, and neighborhood leaders have been calling for clearer communication from the utility, along with tougher regulatory scrutiny. For on-the-ground coverage of the recent string of blackouts, see The Richmond Went Dark Again.
How to get updates
PG&E provides near real-time status updates for specific addresses on its online outage map and takes outage reports by phone. Customers can visit PG&E’s outage center or call 1-800-743-5000 to report outages or downed lines and to get more information. The city is also urging people to steer clear of work zones while crews repair equipment and to check official SFMTA and city websites for any transit impacts tied to the outage.
“The cause is still being investigated, and our priority is safely restoring power back to the remaining customers,” the utility said, as crews continued repairs and worked toward the 12:30 PM restoration goal. City officials have signaled they will press regulators for answers if the winter pattern of outages persists, and residents in the affected neighborhoods were urged to keep following official updates until all service is restored, as detailed in reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle.
