San Francisco Supervisors Probe PG&E After Widespread Winter Power Outages

San Francisco supervisors will hold a much-anticipated hearing on Thursday to discuss widespread power outages that left swaths of the city in the dark for days this winter.

City leaders plan to probe representatives from Pacific Gas & Electric Company, the city’s main power supplier, about what happened when a circuit breaker failure on Dec. 20 led to a fire at the Mission Substation, generating a multi-day power outage impacting about 130,000 customers.

“San Franciscans deserve clear answers and a concrete plan to prevent outages of this scale from happening again,” said Supervisor Alan Wong, who will lead the hearing. “A citywide blackout is not just an inconvenience. It exposes serious gaps in reliability, communication and emergency response.”

Thursday’s meeting at 11 a.m., in the city’s Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee, will include a report on the outages’ impacts on residents and businesses, as well as potential remedies and compensation, and the city’s emergency response coordination.

PG&E leaders are expected to discuss the company’s response timeline during the event and the causes of the outages, as well as changes and improvements that are underway.

“We are accountable to all those impacted by the outage last December, the frustration it caused and our inadequate communication,” reads PG&E’s report about the incident.

At a recent Fire Commission meeting, Fire Chief Dean Crispen said communication with PG&E during the crisis was OK, but many challenges remain with the overall system.

“There clearly needs to be some upgrades to some of their infrastructure,” Crispen said. “That’s a big challenge.”

The power outages in December caused severe disruptions across the city, affecting households, restaurants and even City Hall. Shortly after the power outages began, PG&E offered customers relief in the form of reimbursements and some hotel stays. But many residents said they struggled to secure claims.

In the wake of the electrical failures, which were in some cases caused by a fire, some city supervisors have suggested breaking ties with PG&E. The city is actively exploring options for a public utility alternative.

Supervisor Bilal Mahmood is sponsoring a separate hearing with PG&E, set to take place on March 2 at the Land Use and Transportation Committee.

That hearing will focus on robotaxis, such as Waymos, which stalled in the street and caused traffic jams blocking public safety responders during the December power outages.

“We heard from residents, businesses and city departments that PG&E and Waymo’s handling of this outage was unacceptable,” Mahmood said in a statement. “We want to send a clear message that San Francisco expects accountability and the highest standards from its services and road users, and that improvements are needed from the first non-functioning stoplight to the last refund check.”