Archive · 22 Dec 2025
San Francisco Power Outage Disrupts City
A big power outage happened in San Francisco on Saturday because of a fire at a power station.
This outage affected about 30% of the city, which is around 130,000 people.
Many traffic lights stopped working, causing problems for self-driving cars from a company called Waymo.
These cars got stuck at intersections, making traffic worse.
One person was even left stuck inside a Waymo car.
Because of these issues, Waymo decided to stop their self-driving taxi service for a while to keep people safe.
City officials told everyone to stay off the roads and be careful.
Police officers had to help direct traffic at big intersections.
The power company is working to fix the problem, but it might take a while.
By Sunday morning, most of the power was back, but some people were still without electricity.
The power company said they will fix the rest by Monday afternoon.
A power outage in San Francisco, caused by a fire at a PG&E substation, affected 30% of the city and 130,000 customers.
The outage disrupted traffic signals, leading to congestion and stalled Waymo self-driving cars at intersections.
Waymo temporarily suspended its robotaxi service to ensure rider safety and clear access for emergency personnel.
City officials advised residents to stay off the roads and exercise caution due to inoperative traffic lights.
Law enforcement officers were dispatched to major intersections to manually direct traffic.
- Who
- Residents of San Francisco, Waymo, PG&E, City officials, Law enforcement
- What
- Power outage disrupting traffic signals, causing traffic issues, and affecting businesses
- When
- Saturday, from 1 p.m. to Sunday morning
- Where
- San Francisco, particularly the northern part of the city
- Why
- Fire at a PG&E substation near 8th and Mission Streets
- Cause of Outage
- Fire at PG&E substation
- Affected Areas
- Northern part of San Francisco
- Percentage of City Affected
- 30%
- Number of Customers Affected
- 130,000
- Power Restoration Status
- Most power restored by Sunday morning, 17,000 still without electricity
- Waymo's Response
- Temporarily suspended robotaxi service
- City Officials' Advice
- Avoid nonessential travel, treat down traffic signals as four-way stops
- Law Enforcement's Role
- Dispatched to direct traffic manually
- Power Restoration Timeline
- Full restoration expected by 2 p.m. Monday
Sources
San Francisco power outage: Waymo suspends self-driving taxi service after city blackout
San Francisco power outage: Thousands without electricity, Waymo self-driving services halted — what's the issue?
Power Restored In Most Parts Of San Francisco After Massive Power Outage
San Francisco Power Outage: How Much Is Restored, What Pacific Gas Says on Full Restoration Timeline
Power Restored To Most In San Francisco After Massive Outage
Elon Musk boasts of Tesla services as Waymo's driverless cars froze due to San Francisco power outage — What happened?
San Francisco power outage update: Electricity restored in most areas, full restoration expected by noon
