A massive PG&E outage left over 125,000 San Francisco residents without power on Saturday, December 20, 2025. The SFFD reported that the outage affected at least 130,000 customers, causing significant disruptions across the city. The initial outage began in the Inner Sunset around 9:40 a.m., followed by outages in the Richmond, Presidio, Golden Gate Park, and downtown San Francisco areas, affecting thousands more. BART trains were also impacted, with service suspended at Powell Street, Civic Center, and Van Ness stations due to the power outage. The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management warned that traffic lights in the area might be affected.
PG&E's outage map revealed that, as of 4:15 p.m., nearly 125,000 users were without power, comprising over 30% of the utility company's customer base in the city. San Francisco Fire Department Lt. Mariano Elias stated that the outages were possibly linked to a fire at a PG&E substation on Eighth and Mission streets, reported shortly after 2 p.m. PG&E workers inside the substation noticed the fire and called the SFFD. They evacuated the substation and shut off power, allowing firefighters to extinguish the flames without injuries or displacement. However, crews were working to ventilate the building after smoke accumulated inside.
PG&E estimated that power would be restored to some areas around 3:45 p.m., but the exact timeline for others remained uncertain. Edgar Hopida, PG&E Public Relations Coordinator, stated that the company could not confirm notifications on the PG&E website regarding power restoration by late Saturday. He assured that the grid had been stabilized, and no further outages were expected. This developing story will be updated on KTVU as more information becomes available.
