A letter from the city to CPUC President John Reynolds lists 40 major outages since January, with more than 25% affecting San Francisco\u2019s west side, where December\u2019s blackout persisted the longest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It also contains a laundry list of other issues, including delayed infrastructure projects, two recent fires caused by PG&E equipment, and the utility\u2019s plan to sell Substation I, a SoMa property the city has indicated it wanted to buy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have received the city and county of San Francisco\u2019s letter and are reviewing it,\u201d PG&E spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian said. \u201cWe will respond to the letter as appropriate. We remain committed to safely serving our customers in San Francisco and across our service area.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s at least the third time the city has publicly demanded that the CPUC make its investigation of the December blackout public, according to the letter. The CPUC has said it is investigating the outage privately and confirmed in an email that the investigation is ongoing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, the letter from city officials contends that since December, PG&E has provided \u201clittle information\u201d about how the outage at the substation at Mission and 8th streets led to a citywide blackout that lasted days.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn light of PG&E\u2019s actions over the last nine months and the ongoing pattern of outages and disruptions including two fires in the last week, an open and transparent investigation is even more critical now than it was when we sent our letter in March,\u201d says the letter, which was dated Oct. 8.<\/p>\n
Rolling blackouts March 20 from the Castro to Haight-Ashbury affected 14,000 customers, according to the letter. A July blackout in the Richmond and Presidio left 9,500 customers without power. Two days later, outages from Glen Park to Bernal Heights affected 12,000. Many of the reported outages list the cause as \u201cunknown.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791530290_679_-S3840x2561-FPNG.png\"\/)
A PG&E underground electrical fire Oct. 1 led to a road closure and evacuation of multiple blocks in downtown San Francisco. | Source: Morgan Ellis\/The Standard<\/p>\n
The letter points to two underground vault fires in downtown San Francisco on Sept. 17 (opens in new tab)<\/a> and Oct. 1 (opens in new tab)<\/a> attributed to PG&E equipment. It also highlights four San Francisco infrastructure projects undertaken by PG&E that have hit major delays, including one in the southern part of the city that is on hold (opens in new tab)<\/a> and has been delayed by eight years.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHas the delay of these projects contributed to the continued reliability problems in San Francisco? This is a reasonable question for San Francisco leaders and customers to ask,\u201d the letter says.<\/p>\n The letter repeatedly raises questions about whether PG&E\u2019s infrastructure is reliable enough for the city\u2019s growing energy demand. It also criticizes the company for intending to sell a deactivated substation one block from the one that caught fire and led to the December outage. The letter says the city hoped to acquire the substation, citing its potential importance in serving electrical demand if the substation at Mission and 8th streets fails again or if baseline electrical demand grows beyond what the neighboring substation can provide.\u00a0<\/p>\n It also expresses growing discontent from the city, which for years has evaluated purchasing PG&E\u2019s electrical infrastructure to create a public utility company. The December blackout added force to that call; state Sen. Scott Weiner and Rep. Nancy Pelosi have both vocalized their support<\/a>, though Mayor Daniel Lurie has remained circumspect about the plan\u2019s viability.<\/a>.<\/p>\n During a February hearing called by Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, PG&E CEO Sumeet Singh revealed that a failed circuit breaker at the Mission and 8th substation led to its immolation and the subsequent Dec. 20 outage, after which a cavalcade of screw-ups<\/a> by the utility hampered the response.\u00a0<\/p>\n A PG&E technician took 45 minutes to reach the substation and contacted the Fire Department an hour after the blaze started. Firefighters then had to refer to paper plans of the substation \u2014 in pouring rain \u2014 to find the best route and put out the fire.<\/p>\n During the hearing, Singh said the utility invested $200 million in rebuilding the substation at Mission and 8th streets, which has caught fire three times: in 1996, in 2003, (opens in new tab)<\/a> and Dec. 20. The 2003 fire also occurred on Dec. 20, and also during rain.<\/p>\n