San Francisco power outage leaves 130,000 customers without electricity ahead of Christmas

An SF power outage knocked out electricity to approximately 130,000 homes and businesses across San Francisco, California, on Saturday afternoon, December 20, according to Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E). The San Francisco power outage today affected nearly one-third of PG&E’s total customer base in the city, making it one of the largest power outages San Francisco has experienced in recent years. Data reflected on the PG&E outage map showed widespread disruptions across multiple neighborhoods.

In an update to its X page, PGE says, “We are working with first responders and city officials on an outage in San Francisco affecting approximately 130,000 customers.”

San Francisco power outage caused transit disruptions

The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management said on X that there were “significant transit disruptions” occurring citywide. Officials urged residents to avoid nonessential travel and advised drivers to treat dark traffic signals as four-way stops.


The department also warned residents to take household precautions during the power outage in SF, including keeping refrigerator doors closed to prevent food spoilage.

PGE outage spreads rapidly across the city

The power outage in San Francisco began in the early afternoon and quickly expanded beyond its initial footprint in northern parts of the city, reports Newsweek. As the blackout widened, multiple transportation systems were affected.

Businesses shut, streetlights go dark

Social media posts and local media reports showed widespread disruption from the SF power outage map, including mass closures of restaurants and shops, darkened streetlights, and non-functioning traffic signals. Holiday decorations across several neighborhoods were also left unlit as the outage continued.

PG&E has not yet released a detailed cause of the outage, and restoration timelines were still being assessed as crews worked to address the issue reflected on the PG&E outage map.