San Francisco power outage: PG&E customers, areas, traffic lights and all that is affected
At around 3 pm, PG&E’s website said that about 30% of all city customers were without power.
Entire San Francisco neighbourhoods witnessed a widespread blackout on Saturday following a massive power outage.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the outage affected over 1,30,000 homes and businesses by mid-afternoon. This accounts for approximately one-third of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s customers in the city.
The massive San Francisco power outages, triggered by a fire inside a PG&E power substation, began in the morning on the West Side of the city.
These San Francisco neighbourhoods have been affected by the massive power outage:
- The Presidio
- Seacliff
- Outer Richmond
- Inner Richmond
- Golden Gate Park
- Panhandle
- Inner Sunset
- Outer Sunset
- Part of West of Twin Peaks
At around 3 pm, PG&E’s website said that about 30% of all city customers were without power.
San Francisco power: What has been affected?
By Saturday afternoon, traffic stalled on a dark San Francisco street as street lights went out or went into the emergency blinking mode.
The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management said that traffic lights in areas where power is out may be impacted. “If a traffic signal has gone dark, always treat it as a four-way stop.”
The power outage also dampened the Christmas spirit, as the holiday decorations went dark.
Restaurants reportedly put out candles for diners to keep the place running.
The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) said the Powell Street and the Civic Center stations were also closed because of the outage.
In an X post, BART said that there is a 10-minute delay on the San Francisco Line in all directions due to a power outage at Powell and Civic Center stations.
What caused the massive San Francisco power outage?
According to the news outlet, citing San Francisco Fire Lt Mariano Elias, a fire broke out inside a PG&E substation at 8th and Mission streets at about 2:15 PM, which caused at least some of the blackouts.
Employees reported smoke inside the building, and firefighters were using specialised carbon monoxide equipment to extinguish the flames on the first floor of the four-story building, Elias said.
PG&E's first public response
In their first public response to the outages, PG&E, in an X post, said, “We are working with first responders and city officials on an outage in #SanFrancisco affecting 130,000 customers. We will share more information as it becomes available.”
It remained unclear what prompted the initial blackouts in the Inner Sunset, Richmond and other West Side neighbourhoods.
Emergency ops center opens
San Francisco opened its emergency operations center to coordinate the city’s response.
Mayor Daniel Lurie posted a video from inside the center urging people “to be safe out on the roads.”
“A lot of the lights are out,” Lurie said. “Stay safe and we will continue to be in touch with PG&E.”