Power in San Francisco is out today because of a large-scale outage tied to problems at a PG&E electrical substation, which knocked out service to tens of thousands of customers and disrupted key infrastructure across the city. Officials have said a substation fire and related equipment failures are the central causes, and crews have been working in stages to restore power while investigating the root issue.

What happened

  • A major outage recently left about 125,000–130,000 PG&E customers in San Francisco without electricity, roughly 30% of the city at its peak.
  • The blackout affected large swaths of the Richmond, Sunset, Presidio, Golden Gate Park area, and parts of downtown and nearby neighborhoods.

Main cause of the outage

  • Fire crews responded to a one‑alarm fire at a PG&E substation near 8th and Mission in the SoMa area, which PG&E and city officials identified as a key cause of the outage.
  • The fire was brought under control within a couple of hours, but power equipment had to be shut down and rerouted, leading to extended loss of service while the precise technical failure remains under investigation.

How it’s affecting the city

  • Public transit systems, including BART stations such as Powell and Civic Center and parts of Muni and the Central Subway, experienced disruptions or full halts because of the power loss.
  • Traffic lights went dark at many intersections, some businesses closed or went cash‑only, and thousands of homes and shops were left without lighting, heat, or refrigeration during busy holiday‑season days.

Is power coming back soon?

  • PG&E has restored power to a large share of affected customers in phases, but some pockets of downtown and nearby areas have remained in the dark longer while repairs continue on damaged substation infrastructure.
  • Exact restoration times vary block by block; authorities have urged residents to check the utility’s online outage map or alerts for the most current estimates and to follow city emergency guidance for safety at dark intersections and in buildings.

What you can do right now

  • Check the official outage map or alerts from the utility and local emergency management for your specific address, and avoid unnecessary driving where signals are out (treat those intersections as four‑way stops).
  • Use flashlights instead of candles if possible, keep fridge and freezer doors closed to preserve food, and, if you rely on medical devices that need power, contact your provider or local authorities for assistance and cooling/charging centers.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.