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Darkness shrouds city, Waymo's self-driving cars disrupted: What we know about San Francisco power outage
Large parts of the West Coast tech hub, which has a population of more than 800,000 people, were plunged into darkness with disruptions to public transport.
Nearly one-third of San Francisco was hit by a power outage on Saturday morning, with disruptions stretching well into the day. Large parts of the city remained without electricity, forcing residents to carry on in near-total darkness, with some even celebrating birthdays on unlit streets.
The outages also brought traffic to a standstill.
With stoplights shut down, congestion worsened as autonomous robotaxis were seen stalled or blocking intersections across the city, The San Francisco Standard reported.
Several videos circulating online showed these vehicles compounding gridlock and nearly triggering accidents.
Waymo, an autonomous vehicle company owned by Google’s parent firm Alphabet, operates self-driving robotaxis in San Francisco.
“We are focused on keeping our riders safe and ensuring emergency personnel have the clear access they need to do their work,” a Waymo spokesperson, Suzanne Philion, said in a statement.
Drivers reported long delays in getting across the city, at least partly as a result of stuck Waymos blocking traffic lanes.
Also Read | San Francisco power outage: Thousands to remain without electricity overnight? Latest update
San Francisco Mayor on blackout
The city's mayor told residents to stay off roads if possible, adding some traffic signals were out and authorities had sent police and traffic officers to manage intersections.
"But we've got rain coming, it's night time. If you don't need to go out, stay home and I'll keep you posted," Mayor Daniel Lurie said at the city's emergency operations center in a video posted on X.
A fire at a substation had caused the blackout, Lurie added, saying it was not clear when power would be completely restored.
Also Read | San Francisco outage: When will power be restored? Here's what PG&E said
What happened?
Parts of the city were blanketed in fog and many businesses were forced to close for the day at the height of the holiday shopping period, the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper reported, leaving normally bustling commercial areas quiet.
"We are working with first responders and city officials on an outage in San Francisco affecting approximately 130,000 customers," said Pacific Gas & Electric Company, the city's main power provider, in a statement on X.
The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management posted a map showing the outage heavily affected the west side of the city.
The most affected areas include Richmond, Sunset, Presidio and Golden Gate Park.
A majority of customers saw their power restored by 10:00 pm, PG&E said.
