San Francisco plunged into darkness when nearly 30 percent of the city was struck by a power outage, which brought vital transportation, such as self-driving cars, to a grinding halt on Saturday night.
Over 130,000 houses and businesses were left in the dark, largely in the northwest part of San Francisco, including the Richmond, Sunset, Presidio, and Golden Gate Park sections, officials said on Saturday.
As of early Sunday morning, more than 29,000 people were still without power, according to PowerOutageUS.
The “citywide” outages forced Waymo to halt its driverless car service, stranding the autonomous vehicles in the middle of the streets, SF Gate reported.
“We have temporarily suspended our ride-hailing services given the broad power outage in San Francisco,” a Waymo spokesperson told the outlet. “We are focused on keeping our riders safe and ensuring emergency personnel have the clear access they need to do their work.”
The company shut down its operation at around 8 p.m. because the cars were unable to operate without traffic signals. Residents shared footage of the Waymo vehicles parked with their hazards flashing
At least four Waymo vehicles were parked in the middle of an intersection with their hazards on, creating a large traffic jam at the busy intersection in the North Beach neighborhood, according to video posted to X.
One passenger was left stranded inside one of the self-driving vehicles during the outage, footage obtained by the outlet showed.
A portion of the outages was blamed on a fire that broke out at a Pacific Gas and Electric substation at 8th and Mission streets in downtown San Francisco Saturday afternoon.
Fire crews descended on the substation and contained the fire with carbon dioxide.
The outages began as early as 9:40 a.m. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. was aware of the outages and said crews were working to restore power.
Power was restored to approximately 90,000 customers just after 10 p.m. local time, Mayor Daniel Lurie announced on X.
Crews were continuing to work on the remaining customers on Sunday.
“For those of you that do not have power, we want you to make sure you stay safe,” Lurie said.
The 48-year-old Democrat advised residents to check on neighbors but to remember to blow out all candles they may have been using before going to bed.
“I know there’s a lot going on out there, but people really stepped up tonight and will overnight as well,” Lurie said.
Frustrated customers railed against the hours-long blackouts, calling out the progressive policies that appear to take priority over infrastructure improvements.
“Sitting here in the dark for hours with zero cellular service (I’m in my car) but at least SF has a reparations fund now!” one person wrote on X.
“We’ve been without power for 12+ hours, but it finally came on at 12:30 AM Sunday morning. It’s grossily unacceptable not to have reliable power in San Francisco. PG&E needs to strengthen SF’s power grid and make it reduntant to prevent blackouts,” another wrote.
“This is a disgrace. Most expensive electric rates in the USA and we can’t get the grid fixed,” another said.
“Ten fricking hours and still no power,” railed a fourth.
Police officer presence was ramped up in the areas without power to “ensure the safety of those still on the road,” he added.
PG&E says the grid has been stabilized, and the company is not expecting any more customers to be affected.
Rail lines and traffic signals were shut down by the outage, with city officials urging residents not to travel for the remainder of the night.
City buses had their routes changed, bypassing certain stops that were affected by the outages.
“Significant transit disruptions” were reported by the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management across the city.
https://nypost.com/2025/12/20/us-news/san-francisco-power-outage-leaves-130000-in-the-dark/
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.