PG&E Restores Service to All Customers Affected by San Francisco Substation Outage

San Francisco outage, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 12:30 p.m.

CEO Sumeet Singh shares an update on the San Francsico power outage — what happened, how our crews restored power, and how we’re supporting customers with automatic bill credits. Thank you to the City, first responders, and our communities for your resilience and partnership.

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San Francisco outage, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 5 a.m.

As of 4:31 Tuesday morning, power has been fully restored to all customers impacted by Saturday’s substation outage in San Francisco. Crews completed the necessary electrical connections to safely restore service to the remaining 3,800 customers who were without power. The root cause of the outage remains under investigation.

As announced yesterday, residential customers impacted by the outage will automatically receive a $200 bill credit, and business customers impacted will automatically receive a $2,500 bill credit. No action is required by the customer.

PG&E’s Emergency Operations Center and regional emergency centers are activated in preparation for an incoming winter storm system expected to impact our service area Tuesday afternoon. More than 5,500 front-line crew members and contractors are on storm duty, and PG&E has pre-positioned electric and gas crews and tree workers in areas expected to see the most severe impacts.

For more storm safety tips and preparedness information, visit: Severe Weather Safety.

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San Francisco outage, Monday, Dec. 22, 5 p.m.

• The safety of our customers and coworkers is our most important responsibility.  
• As of 5 p.m. Monday, PG&E had restored all but approximately 3,800 customers. 
• PG&E restored more customers than anticipated; however additional complexities in the remaining repair work resulted in an extended estimated time of restoration of 6 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 23.  
• PG&E continues working to restore the remaining customers concentrated in the Presidio, the Richmond District, Golden Gate Park and small areas of Downtown San Francisco.  
• PG&E restored the majority of customers six to eight hours after the initial outage.   
• The damage from the fire in our substation was significant and extensive and the repairs and safe restoration have been complex. 
• We mobilized every available engineer and electrician into the city as part of the restoration work.  

Bill credits and claims process 

• In response to the outage, PG&E is making bill credits available for eligible residential and non-residential customers impacted by the San Francisco outage to help offset the inconvenience and disruption caused by the event.  
• Residential customers will automatically receive a $200 bill credit and business customers will receive an approximately $2,500 credit.  
• Customers don’t need to file a claim or take any action; credits will appear on bills as “Customer Satisfaction Adjustment.”  
• We will contact the affected customers and provide information on our website and through our customer service team very soon.  
• We are committed to making this process as simple and responsive as possible.  

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San Francisco outage, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2 p.m.

• The safety of our customers and coworkers is our most important responsibility.  
• Crews have restored about 114,000 customers, including 4,000 on Sunday, and PG&E continues working to restore the remaining customers concentrated in the Presidio, the Richmond District, Golden Gate Park and small areas of Downtown San Francisco. As of noon Sunday, PG&E had restored all but about 17,000 customers. 
• We currently expect to restore all remaining customers impacted by the substation outage by no later than 2 p.m. Monday. 
• We are communicating the estimated time to restoration to customers and updating our outage map on pge.com accordingly. 
• In addition, we continue to look for opportunities to perform local restoration activities where conditions allow. 
• PG&E restored the majority of customers six to eight hours after the initial outage.   
• The damage from the fire in our substation was significant and extensive and the repairs and safe restoration will be complex. 
• We have mobilized every available engineer and electrician into the city as part of the restoration work.  
• This is a very complex work plan and will require the highest amount of safety focus to ensure safe work actions. 
• At 1:09 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 20, we began to experience a significant outage in San Francisco that reached its peak two hours later with approximately 130,000 customers affected.  
• There were no injuries to coworkers or the public.  
• We recognize the impact of the outage, and we apologize for the disruption and frustration this has caused, especially during the holiday season.  
• We want customers to know that we won't stop working until everyone is restored safely. 
• PG&E is partnering with the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers through the Disability Disaster Access & Resources to get food vouchers and hotel placements to impacted, vulnerable customers.  
• PG&E is opening a Community Resource Center in San Francisco’s Richmond District at 251 18th Ave. from 5-10 p.m. Sunday, then Monday from 8 a.m.-midnight. Resources include power stations to charge electronics, free Wi-Fi access, amenities (bottled water, snacks, ice), ADA-accessible restrooms and hand-washing stations, seating and PG&E information and customer support to answer questions. 
• Our Emergency Operations Center team is staffed to support both our response to the San Francisco outage while also performing the necessary pre-planning and mobilization to support our customers who may be impacted by the incoming storms. We are equally focused and supporting both events. 

Customer outage tips 

• Keep freezer and refrigerator doors closed.
• Turn off or disconnect your appliances. Overloaded circuits can be a fire hazard once power is restored.
• Leave a single lamp on to let you know when power returns. 
• Store a flashlight with extra batteries in a convenient place. 
• Practice opening garage doors manually. 
• Use generators outside only. 
• If you see a downed power line, stay away. Call 9-1-1 immediately to report its location, then call PG&E at 1-800-743-5002. 
• Check on neighbors. 
• Have a backup plan if you rely on power for medical needs or medications that require refrigeration. 

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San Francisco outage, Sunday, Dec. 21, 7 a.m.

• The safety of our customers and coworkers is our most important responsibility.

• Crews have restored about 110,000 customers and PG&E continues to work on restoring the remaining 21,000 customers, primarily in the Presidio, Richmond District, Golden Gate Park and small areas of downtown San Francisco.

• The damage from the fire in our substation was significant and extensive, and the repairs and safe restoration will be complex.

• At this time, we are unable to provide a precise timeframe for full restoration but will provide additional detail and information as our assessment and repair efforts continue.

• We have mobilized additional engineers and electricians into the city to our customers.

• This is a very complex work plan and will require the highest amount of safety focus to ensure safe work actions.

• At 1:09 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 20, we began to experience a significant outage in San Francisco that reached its peak two hours later with about 130,000 customers affected.

• There were no injuries to PG&E coworkers or the public.

• If you see a downed power line, assume it is energized and extremely dangerous. Do not touch or try to move the line and keep children and animals away. Report downed power lines immediately by calling 911. You can report and view outage information at pge.com/outages or by calling PG&E at 1-800-743-5002.  

• The safety of our customers and coworkers is our most important responsibility. 

• Crews restored about 95,000 customers by 11 p.m. Saturday, with PG&E working to restore the remaining 35,000 customers.

• We will continue working through the night and as we complete the necessary safety inspections, we will be restoring customers as we go along.

• At 1:09 p.m., we began to experience a significant outage in San Francisco that reached its peak two hours later with approximately 130,000 customers affected. 

• There were no injuries to coworkers or the public.

• If you see a downed power line, assume it is energized and extremely dangerous. Do not touch or try to move the line and keep children and animals away. Report downed power lines immediately by calling 911. You can report and view outage information at pge.com/outages or by calling PG&E at 1-800-743-5002.   

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San Francisco outage, Saturday, Dec. 20, 3:30 p.m.

• The safety of our customers and coworkers is our most important responsibility. 

• We are currently working on a large outage in San Francisco affecting approximately 130,000 customers.  

• We are working closely with first responders and city officials to make the situation safe.

• We have stabilized the grid and not expecting any additional customer outages at this time. 

• We have crews on scene and will share more information as it becomes available.

• Our outage map on pge.com is saying restoration is possible later today, though we are not able to confirm that just yet.