{"id":124771,"date":"2026-01-08T05:43:41","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T05:43:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/124771\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T05:43:41","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T05:43:41","slug":"pge-substation-fires-in-bay-area-followed-safety-violations-flagged-by-state-inspectors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/124771\/","title":{"rendered":"PG&E substation fires in Bay Area followed safety violations flagged by state inspectors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two recent fires at PG&E substations cut power to thousands, drew condemnation from members of Congress, and spotlighted a year full of safety and maintenance violations at the utility giant\u2019s<\/a> substations throughout the region, from oil leaks to broken cooling fans and birds\u2019 nests in equipment.<\/p>\n

A substation fire Dec. 20 in San Francisco knocked out power to more than 100,000 customers<\/a> \u2014 some for more than two days \u2014 paralyzed many Waymo robotaxis<\/a>, and elicited a promise from the utility\u2019s new CEO to provide $50 million in compensation to those affected.<\/p>\n

On Dec. 24, flames erupted at a PG&E substation in Saratoga<\/a>, leading to a power outage affecting 16,500 customers.<\/p>\n

Oakland-headquartered PG&E said this week that both incidents were under investigation.<\/p>\n

Substations take in high-voltage electricity from transmission lines and reduce it to a lower voltage that can be safely carried by distribution lines to homes and businesses.<\/p>\n

\"InspectorsInspectors from the California Public Utilities Commission found a jury-rigged contraption for filling leaking electrical equipment at a PG&E substation in Half Moon Bay, California, during a February 2025 audit of the facility. (California Public Utilities Commission)\u00a0<\/p>\n

State audits in 2025 of PG&E substations in the Bay Area that found problems including missing fire extinguishers, oil leaks, non-functional cooling fans, loose wires, holes where bolts should be, and birds nesting in electrical equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201cPG&E has underinvested in safety,\u201d South Bay Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna said after looking at audit results. \u201cThis just confirms that we need to make PG&E a California customer-owned utility, not investor owned.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"InspectorsInspectors from the California Public Utilities Commission found missing bolts at the base of a transmission tower in a PG&E substation in Belmont, California, during a February 2025 audit. (California Public Utilities Commission)\u00a0<\/p>\n

The utility said in a statement this week that it is \u201ccommitted to adhering to compliance standards, taking immediate corrective actions when issues arise, and operating in a manner that prioritizes public and coworker safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

The California Public Utilities Commission typically audits each of PG&E\u2019s five regions \u2014 the North Coast, Sierra, Bay Area, Central Coast, and Central Valley \u2014 every five years.<\/p>\n

During audits of PG&E substations in January and May of 2025 by California\u2019s utility regulator, inspectors found oil leaks in San Jose, Gilroy, Saratoga, Cupertino and Redwood City; bolts missing from the base of a transmission tower in Belmont and from a circuit-breaker structure in San Carlos; a contraption in Half Moon Bay for refilling leaking equipment, involving a 55-gallon drum with four large rocks on top of it and a tube running up into a bank of electrical transformers; and a total of seven cooling fans not working in San Jose, and six non-operational in Cupertino.<\/p>\n

Battery corrosion was found at substations in Santa Clara, Cupertino, Morgan Hill, Millbrae and San Francisco. Fire extinguishers were missing from one of the utility\u2019s San Francisco substations.<\/p>\n

\"Inspectors<\/p>\n

Inspectors from the California Public Utilities Commission found a broken, taped-over gauge at a PG&E substation in Redwood City, California during a February 2025 audit.<\/p>\n

\"Inspectors<\/p>\n

Inspectors from the California Public Utilities Commission found missing bolts at the base of a transmission tower in a PG&E substation in Belmont, California, during a February 2025 audit. (California Public Utilities Commission)<\/p>\n

\"Inspectors<\/p>\n

Inspectors from the California Public Utilities Commission found a jury-rigged contraption for filling leaking electrical equipment at a PG&E substation in Half Moon Bay, California, during a February 2025 audit of the facility. (California Public Utilities Commission)<\/p>\n

\"Exposed<\/p>\n

Exposed wires are shown at a PG&E substation in Redwood City, from a February 2025 audit of the utility’s facilities by California Public Utility Commission inspectors. (California Public Utility Commission)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

(Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

A PG&E walks out of Substation B in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

(Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

The sun shines on Substation A in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. PG&E plans to upgrade and expand Substation B because of increasing demand. (Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

\"PG&E<\/p>\n

(Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

PG&E plans to upgrade and expand Substation B in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

\"PG&E<\/p>\n

(George Avalos\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

PG&E San Jose Substation A, located near the corner of South Montgomery Street and Otterson Street in downtown San Jose, seen on June 17, 2025.<\/p>\n

(George Avalos\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 8<\/p>\n

Inspectors from the California Public Utilities Commission found a broken, taped-over gauge at a PG&E substation in Redwood City, California during a February 2025 audit.<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Inspectors identified damaged equipment gauges at a substation in Redwood City, unreadable gauges in San Jose, broken gauges at two substations in San Francisco, and a missing temperature gauge in Menlo Park. A non-functional temperature gauge at the Redwood City substation had\u00a0\u201cloose wires coming out of it,\u201d the audit report said.<\/p>\n

The January audit at the Saratoga substation where the Dec. 24 fire occurred revealed a branch inside a radiator. The May audit of the San Francisco substation where the Dec. 20 fire occurred found weeping oil on a radiator, a failed alarm relay, and a broken nitrogen gauge along with an alarm showing low nitrogen pressure.<\/p>\n

PG&E said it \u201cperforms regular inspections and preventative maintenance on its\u202fsubstation assets\u202fconsistent with good utility practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Mark Toney, executive director of watchdog group The Utility Reform Network (TURN), said PG&E\u2019s customers \u201cexpect\u00a0PG&E to walk the talk\u201d on safety, and added, \u201cthat\u2019s what we\u2019re paying the bills for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AThe most recent audits for PG&E\u2019s East Bay substations, from 2024, showed fewer violations than in the South Bay, Peninsula and San Francisco in 2025. Inspectors noted an oil leak, birds\u2019 nests and a broken insulator in Pleasanton, and in Newark, found a rusted anchor for a tower-support cable, along with illegible gauges and birds\u2019 nests. It was unclear why the East Bay appeared to fare better.<\/p>\n

PG&E said it takes \u201cimmediate action to address audit findings with a priority on any issue that could potentially pose a safety, ignition, or significant reliability risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

State audits have flagged similar issues at other utilities, though regulators have not said whether PG&E\u2019s violations are more widespread.<\/p>\n

The California Public Utilities Commission, which conducted the audits, said it can use investigations and fines to ensure laws and rules are followed. The commission\u2019s citations report<\/a> shows PG&E has been hit with millions of fines over wildfires, but no apparent penalties related to substation maintenance issues.<\/p>\n

PG&E, which serves 16 million customers from Eureka to Bakersfield and made a record profit of $2.47 billion last year, has faced accusations for years that it prioritizes paying billions of dollars to shareholders over safety. In 2020, the utility pleaded guilty<\/a> to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter after a transmission-line failure caused the deadly 2018 Camp Fire that razed Paradise in Butte County. The previous year, Judge William Alsup of U.S. District Court in San Francisco\u00a0assailed the utility\u2019s failure<\/a> to stop its equipment from sparking wildfires, saying, \u201cPG&E pumped out $4.5 billion in dividends and let the tree budget wither.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the wake of forest fires caused by its equipment, PG&E has scrambled to prevent further damage and tragedies. The utility says it has<\/a> buried 1,000 miles of power lines in high fire-risk areas, boosted vegetation maintenance and strengthened power poles and lines. It has funded the work by raising customers\u2019 rates by $9.8 billion from 2019 to 2023, the California Public Utilities Commission reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That spending has helped double PG&E residential customers\u2019 rates<\/a> over the past decade, and Californians pay the second-highest electricity rates in the country<\/a>, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.<\/p>\n

Critics say the focus on wildfire prevention may come at a cost elsewhere, with TURN\u2019s Toney worrying that PG&E is \u201cnot paying the same level of attention to other safety issues and other maintenance issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

East Bay Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell called the lengthy blackout from the San Francisco PG&E substation fire \u201ca public safety risk\u201d and demanded PG&E<\/a> \u201cfacilitate a reimbursement process where families who lost groceries and small businesses who lost profits can be made whole.\u201d The day Swalwell made his statement, PG&E\u2019s incoming CEO Sumeet Singh said the utility had set aside $50 million<\/a> to give automatic credits of $200 for residential customers affected by the blackout and \u201capproximately $2,500\u201d for affected businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho\u2019s going to pay?\u201d Toney said. \u201cAre ratepayers going to have to pay for it? It doesn\u2019t seem fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

PG&E, where previous CEO Patricia Poppe received $15.8 million in compensation last year, declined to say whether customers would end up paying for the $50 million response to the San Francisco blackout.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two recent fires at PG&E substations cut power to thousands, drew condemnation from members of Congress, and spotlighted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124772,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[389,184,3928,7911,387,7,9502,8,390,392,186,332,393,175,187,181,23,2649,12610,193,41706,100,143,395,3604,2944,2650,5572,23505,6573,101,396,88,90,89,397,198,199,200,398,399,535],"class_list":["post-124771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-alameda-county","tag-bay-area","tag-bay-area-weather","tag-belmont","tag-business","tag-california","tag-california-fires","tag-california-news","tag-central-contra-costa","tag-contra-costa-county","tag-cupertino","tag-east-bay","tag-east-contra-costa","tag-fires","tag-gilroy","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-menlo-park","tag-millbrae","tag-morgan-hill","tag-newark","tag-news","tag-oakland","tag-peninsula","tag-pge","tag-photos-and-videos","tag-pleasanton","tag-redwood-city","tag-san-bruno","tag-san-carlos","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-county","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-san-mateo-county","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-saratoga","tag-south-bay","tag-tri-valley","tag-west-contra-costa","tag-wildfires"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}