San Francisco Power Outage: Substation Repairs Continue After Massive Blackout

Thousands Still in the Dark as San Francisco Substation Repairs Move Into Second Day

Yalonda M. James/S.F. Chronicle

If you spent your Saturday night searching for candles or wondering why the streetlights were out across nearly a third of San Francisco, you weren’t alone. A massive power failure gripped the city yesterday, and while most residents are back online, the recovery is far from over.

As of Sunday morning, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) crews remain on-site at a critical substation, working through significant and extensive damage to bring the final thousands of customers back into the light.

A City Sidelined: The Substation Fire at 8th and Mission

The chaos began on Saturday afternoon when a one-alarm fire broke out at the PG&E substation located at 8th and Mission streets. Reported around 3:15 p.m., the blaze sent shockwaves through the local grid, immediately plunging over 130,000 customers into darkness.

The San Francisco Fire Department responded quickly, using carbon dioxide to suppress the flames while PG&E technicians worked to isolate the damaged equipment. While the fire was contained relatively fast, the damage it left behind was deep. For many in neighborhoods like the Richmond, Sunset, and the Western Addition, the "quick fix" many hoped for turned into a long, cold night.

Commutes Grounded and Streets Go Dark

The impact wasn't just felt in living rooms; it effectively paralyzed parts of the city’s infrastructure.

• BART & Muni: Major transit hubs, including the Powell Street and Civic Center BART stations, were forced to shutter their doors, leaving commuters scrambling for alternate routes. Muni Metro and Central Subway services were also grounded for hours.
• Traffic Hazards: With traffic lights dark at major intersections, the Department of Emergency Management issued a stern reminder for drivers to treat every dead signal as a four-way stop.
• Modern Tech Pauses: Even the city’s fleet of autonomous vehicles took a hit, with Waymo temporarily suspending its ride-hailing services due to the unpredictable conditions on the road.

Mayor Daniel Lurie took to social media late Saturday to urge caution, asking residents to stay off the roads and stay inside unless travel was absolutely necessary.

The Long Road to Full Restoration

By 11 p.m. Saturday, PG&E had successfully restored power to approximately 100,000 customers. However, the victory was only partial. Roughly 21,000 residents and businesses woke up Sunday morning still waiting for the hum of their refrigerators to return.

PG&E officials have been hesitant to provide a concrete "all-clear" time. Because the fire caused such substantial damage to the substation’s core infrastructure, repairs are delicate and time-consuming.

"Our crews are working as safely and as quickly as possible," a PG&E spokesperson noted, though they acknowledged that the complexity of the repairs means some customers might be waiting a bit longer than they’d like.

For now, the city is slowly humming back to life, but the events of the weekend serve as a stark reminder of how much we rely on the grid—and how quickly things can change when one piece of the puzzle fails.