A large, unplanned power outage is hitting PG&E customers across San Francisco's Richmond and Sunset neighborhoods, according to an alert shared Monday afternoon. The scope of the disruption, its cause, and how long residents might be without power all remain unclear as the situation unfolds.
The San Francisco Fire Department Media
account amplified the alert on Sept. 28, confirming that “a large, unplanned power outage is impacting PG&E customers in the Richmond and Sunset.” The fire department's account, which serves San Francisco, San Francisco International Airport, the San Francisco Presidio, and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, is the official channel for the department but is not monitored around the clock, so residents facing a true emergency are urged to call or text 911, while non-life-threatening hazards should be reported to 311.
Details on exactly how many customers are affected, what triggered the outage, or when crews expect to restore service have not been released. PG&E's Outage Center and its phone line, 1-800-743-5002, remain the main resources for real-time outage maps, updates, and estimated restoration times, and that information is also available in Spanish, Chinese, and Tagalog. Customers can also sign up directly with PG&E to receive outage alerts as conditions change.
A Familiar Pattern of Citywide Blackouts
Monday's outage follows a string of similar incidents that have rattled San Francisco neighborhoods throughout 2026. Just about a month earlier, on Aug. 29, a large, unplanned outage knocked out power across Haight Ashbury, the Western Addition, and adjacent areas, according to Hoodline. That outage's impact map showed customer counts ranging from as few as one to more than 5,000 affected accounts in pockets stretching into Lower Pacific Heights and Presidio Heights.
An earlier outage on Aug. 10 struck Russian Hill, North Beach, and Chinatown and was described at the time as the fifth significant citywide outage of 2026, per the same Hoodline report. The Haight Ashbury and Western Addition blackout that followed less than three weeks later was subsequently labeled the city's sixth major outage of the year.
Substation Fire Set the Tone for a Rough Stretch
The run of outages traces back, at least in scale, to a fire at PG&E's substation at Mission and 8th Streets on Dec. 20, 2025, which cut power to roughly 130,000 San Francisco homes and businesses for more than 48 hours, the outlet's report notes. That incident set a grim benchmark for just how widespread and prolonged a single point of failure in the city's grid can become.
Whether Monday's Richmond and Sunset outage will approach that scale is not yet known, and no estimated restoration time has been provided. Residents in the affected neighborhoods are encouraged to check PG&E's Outage Center for the latest status rather than assume any particular timeline for when the lights will come back on.
