SF has suffered its largest power outage in over a decade, with tens of thousands of people still in the dark hours after PG&E blackouts began.
San Francisco residents were thrown into the late 1800s on Saturday afternoon when blackouts began popping up across the city. PG&E, the utility with an essential monopoly on electricity in the SF Bay Area, first reported power outages shortly after 10 a.m. today, December 20th, with more zip codes going dark as the morning progressed.
Update: We are working with first responders and city officials on an outage in San Francisco affecting approximately 130,000 customers. We will share more information as it becomes available. pic.twitter.com/l4dwqxLa1b
— Pacific Gas & Electric (@PGE4Me) December 21, 2025
By 4:45 p.m., an estimated 130,000 San Franciscans were without power. BART and Muni light rail suffered long delays and outright station closures; Muni and BART warned customers that Powell Street and Civic Center stations were closed as of 6 p.m., while Van Ness restored service before 5 p.m.; as a result, buses were crowded and were left to contend with car congestion caused by stoplight outages.
“We are working with first responders and city officials on an outage in San Francisco affecting approximately 130,000 customers,” PG&E wrote in an online update. “We have stabilized the grid and are not expecting additional customer outages at this time.”Restoration is possible later today, though we are not able to confirm that just yet.”
(Mind you: PG&E had said some areas would see power come on at 4 p.m. today, and those zipcodes are still in the dark.)
With no power and overcast, rainy skies, it’s unironically a perfect time to light an evergreen candle and read softcore gay hockey-centric porn that’s birthed one of the highest-rated television series of the past two decades.
Feature image: Courtesy of PG&E
