San Francisco Plunged into Darkness: Substation Fire Causes Massive Blackout Affecting 130,000
A fire at an electrical substation left a significant portion of the city without power, disrupting public transport and holiday shopping on a foggy Saturday night.
A blanket of darkness fell over a large part of San Francisco on Saturday night, December 20, 2025, as a massive power grid failure left approximately 130,000 residents without electricity.
The city’s main utility provider, Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), confirmed the widespread issue. “We are working with response teams and municipal officials on an outage in San Francisco affecting approximately 130,000 customers,” the company announced. By Sunday, significant progress had been made, with power restored to about 95,000 customers.
In a follow-up statement, PG&E provided more details on the restoration efforts. “Crews had restored power to approximately 95,000 customers by 11 p.m. Saturday, while around 35,000 remain without power,” the company clarified. An earlier announcement had projected that electricity would be fully restored to the remaining affected areas “overnight.”
According to San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, the power outage was triggered by a fire at an electrical substation. For more information on the city’s emergency response, residents can refer to the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management.
The blackout paralyzed much of the West Coast tech hub, a city with a population of over 800,000. Public transportation was significantly disrupted before power began to be gradually restored across the city.
Adding to the chaotic scene, parts of San Francisco were shrouded in fog. The outage also hit local businesses hard, forcing many shops to close during the peak of the Christmas shopping season, as reported by The San Francisco Chronicle.
“I know this has been a difficult day,” Mayor Lurie acknowledged in a video message posted on X from the city’s emergency operations center. City authorities had previously advised residents to stay in their homes.
“This is progress,” the mayor said regarding the partial restoration of power, “but for those of you who are still without electricity, we want to make sure you are safe. Please check on your neighbors.”
The city’s emergency services, including police, fire departments, and municipal officials, were fully mobilized. The mayor added that the outage knocked out numerous traffic lights, necessitating the deployment of traffic controllers to manage key intersections and ensure public safety.
