Major Power Outage Strikes San Francisco, Disrupting City

A significant power outage left large portions of San Francisco without electricity, affecting tens of thousands of customers and disrupting daily life across the city. The blackout, which occurred on a Tuesday, impacted approximately 130,000 residents and businesses at its peak, representing nearly one-third of the city [31332][31306].

The widespread failure caused traffic signals to go dark, leading to significant transit delays and prompting city officials to advise residents to limit non-essential travel [31470][31392]. Public transportation systems were also affected by the loss of power. The outage had a notable impact on the city's technology sector, forcing the suspension of autonomous vehicle services. Leading robotaxi—or self-driving car—companies Waymo and others proactively halted their fleets as a standard safety precaution when traffic signals failed, leaving some vehicles immobilized on streets [31561][31871].

The utility provider, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), reported that the outage was caused by "significant and extensive" damage at a key substation, though the origin of that damage remains under investigation [31639]. Crews worked through the event to restore service, and power was returned to most customers following the incident [31778][31947]. Authorities urged the public to treat non-functioning intersections as four-way stops and to check on vulnerable neighbors during the disruption [31470].