A large, unplanned power outage knocked out electricity to PG&E customers across parts of Russian Hill, North Beach, and Chinatown yesterday, according to city emergency officials. The blackout left residents in some of San Francisco’s densest, oldest neighborhoods scrambling in the dark before sunrise.
The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management posted the alert on social media, directing residents to PG&E’s Outage Center or its outage hotline at 1-800-743-5002 for real-time maps, updates, and estimated restoration times. The department also reminded residents that they can sign up for localized text alerts by texting their ZIP code to 888-777, a service run through the city’s AlertSF notification system. As of the initial report, PG&E had not specified a cause for the outage.
A large, unplanned power outage is impacting PG&E customers in parts of Russian Hill, North Beach, and Chinatown.For the most current outage information, visit: https://t.co/YVAaMbThG5… Visit PG&E’s Outage Center or call 1-800-743-5002 for real-time outage maps, updates, and… pic.twitter.com/H6uk2vtps4
— San Francisco Department of Emergency Management (@SF_emergency) August 10, 2026
A Familiar Corner of the City Goes Dark Again
Yesterday’s blackout adds another entry to a troubling recent history for underground electrical infrastructure in this stretch of San Francisco. Back in April 2023, an underground transformer fire near Clay and Montgomery streets knocked out power to nearly 10,000 PG&E customers spanning the Financial District, Marina, Russian Hill, and Chinatown, according to KTVU. Underground fires in these dense commercial corridors often require complex cable rewiring before crews can safely restore power, which can drag out restoration times for residents and business owners alike…