San Francisco supervisors demand answers after Dec. 20 blackout, push for PG&E hearing and public power study

San Francisco supervisors on Tuesday pressed for accountability and new options for local control after a Dec. 20 substation fire and cascading outages left about 130,000 customers without power during the holiday week.

Supervisor Wong, who asked the board to schedule a hearing, described the outages as a serious public-safety failure and said residents deserve clear explanations. "Our residents deserve answers," Wong said, recounting reports of seniors losing heat, a 95‑year‑old ventilator user rushed to a hospital, and small businesses losing perishable goods.

Supervisor Chan introduced two resolutions aimed at holding Pacific Gas & Electric Company accountable and urging state oversight. Chan’s measures would reaffirm city efforts to acquire PG&E infrastructure identified in a 2019 San Francisco Public Utilities Commission report and urge Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety to withhold PG&E’s safety certificate until inspections and maintenance are verified.

Several supervisors framed the outages as evidence that an investor‑owned utility prioritizes shareholders over local reliability and urged a full review of municipalization. "Until that changes, we can expect more of the same," said Supervisor Dorsey, who endorsed a public power path and pledged to cosponsor the board’s measures.

PG&E told the board an equipment failure at its Mission station caused a fire that led to outages affecting roughly 130,000 customers. Sarah Yule, a PG&E government‑affairs representative, said the utility has engaged independent investigator Exponent and expects preliminary results in February. "We are going to be transparent with our learnings and are committed to making any recommended improvements with a sense of urgency," Yule said, while asking the board not to draw conclusions before the investigation concludes.

Supervisor Mahmoud raised a related concern about autonomous vehicles operated by Waymo, saying dozens of Waymo cars stalled in the dark and blocked intersections during the outage and urging a separate hearing on AV preparedness for emergencies. "These chaotic scenes could be seen across the city until Waymo pulled its fleet off the street," Mahmoud said, and the board invited Waymo leadership and city emergency agencies to respond.

The board’s near‑term actions include formal requests for briefings from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission on the fiscal and operational implications of acquiring local electric infrastructure, and a hearing to question PG&E and state regulators about inspection and maintenance practices. Supervisors also introduced a resolution urging state action on PG&E’s safety certificate for 2026.

Next steps: supervisors requested that staff schedule the requested hearings and the SFPUC briefing so the board can evaluate municipalization options and oversight recommendations once the Exponent investigation and other after‑action reports are available.