A PG&E power outage knocked out electricity for 6,491 Peninsula customers Tuesday and disrupted BART service to San Francisco International Airport, with crews scrambling to pinpoint the damage and get the lights back on. PG&E estimated restoration at about 4:15 p.m., even as its crews worked to identify the damaged sections of the electrical system and make repairs safely.
The outage, reported Tuesday, was separate from a potential Public Safety Power Shutoff PG&E was preparing for later in the week, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. BART's own alert system reported a major delay on the Antioch Line in both the Antioch and SFO directions as the utility problem rippled into the transit agency's operations.
A Montara Resident's Week of Repeated Outages
For Dan Page, a Montara resident, Tuesday's outage was just the latest in a frustrating stretch. Page said power outages have struck Montara, Moss Beach and El Granada six times over four days, including one that lasted through most of Monday night until about 5 a.m.
Page also raised concerns that go beyond inconvenience. He estimated that roughly 300 homes in Montara and Moss Beach rely on private wells, and the same report notes that a prolonged power outage can interrupt running water in homes dependent on those wells. Page added that spotty cellular service can make communication difficult for residents trying to stay informed during outages.
A Bigger Shutoff Could Follow Later This Week
While Tuesday's outage affected thousands, PG&E is also monitoring a much larger potential event. The utility said in a release distributed via PRNewswire that a potential Public Safety Power Shutoff, starting Wednesday evening and forecast to last through Saturday afternoon, could affect approximately 70,000 customers across twenty-nine counties.
PG&E sent one-day advance notifications Tuesday afternoon to customers in the targeted areas that might experience the potential shutoff. The utility noted that roughly 4,000 customers who were impacted by PSPS events earlier in the week may also be affected by this event, while roughly 5,700 customers who were included in the original PSPS scope have since been de-scoped.
The potential shutoff is tied to a dry offshore wind event PG&E is monitoring, which could bring low humidity, high winds and dry vegetation conditions. The utility said such decisions weigh factors including low humidity levels generally at 30 percent and below, alongside Red Flag Warnings and real-time field observations, as it balances wildfire risk against the burden a shutoff places on customers.
A Recurring Headache for BART Riders
Tuesday's disruption to BART service fits a pattern that's become uncomfortably familiar for Bay Area transit riders. A PG&E outage near the Oakland Coliseum BART station previously prompted major train delays on a Saturday afternoon, according to KTVU, after a fire near the station caused delays on the Berryessa Line in the Dublin/Pleasanton, Berryessa, Richmond and Daly City directions. BART later said that outage completely halted service between Fruitvale and Bay Fair, with PG&E attributing it to a wire that fell across BART and Union Pacific Railroad tracks near 6315 San Leandro Street; power and track access were restored just before 8:55 p.m.
BART's network has also failed independent of any wind event. Last September, an overnight network upgrade halted all trains across the system during peak commute hours, with the Chronicle reporting that full service resumed at about 11:43 a.m. that day. BART determined that failure was limited to its operations in San Francisco and the Peninsula, restoring East Bay service earlier, at about 9:30 a.m. A BART spokesperson has also said a separate, earlier outage in May stemmed from a PG&E power failure that kept devices from connecting to each other because of network settings.
Power problems have also hit elsewhere on the Peninsula recently. More than 2,200 PG&E customers in Pacifica were affected by a power outage reported on a Friday afternoon, according to Patch, underscoring how often coastal communities south of San Francisco have found themselves waiting on PG&E crews this year.
