Six power outages in Sunset District impact residents and businesses among strings of outages in San Francisco in Dec. 2025

SAN FRANCISCO — A string of power outages throughout the month of December in 2025 had once affected 130,000 customers in San Francisco and 6-time affected customers in the Sunset District. The Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) announced compensation in the form of bill credits to be offered automatically to customers who were without power for 48 hours and longer. Each residential customer would receive $200 credit on the next bill, while each business customer would receive approximately $2,500.

On December 20, 2025, 130,000 homes and businesses in San Francisco citywide about 30% of the city lost their power due to a fire at PG&E’s Mission and 8th Streets substation shortly after 2pm.

The affected areas were primarily in the Richmond, Outer and Inner Sunsets, Haight Ashbury, Pacific Heights, Western Addition, Tenderloin, Civic Center, Chinatown, North Beach and more neighborhoods.

The massive power outage lasted for over two days. On the first day of the outage on December 20, it was a Saturday and a busy day for all residents and businesses to prepare for December 25 Christmas holiday. PG&E took over 48 hours to restore power to all customers in San Francisco.

Lily Yang, a restaurant owner in Chinatown, said the power outage affected her restaurant and many customers as well. The outage occurred in the late afternoon of a Saturday. Yang’s restaurant has not equipped with a generator.

"Our chefs cooked in the dark with limited natural lights trying to finish all the orders from the dine-in patrons who had ordered their dishes prior to the outrage," said Yang.

"Later in the afternoon and evening, more customers came in and tried to order take-out food. But we couldn't take the orders since there was no electricity for us to cook and operate," Yang recalled that it was a very busy Saturday afternoon before Christmas. “Of course we needed the pre-Christmas food orders, but we were not able to take them. As a result, we lost a substantial amount of business during the busy holiday season because of the power outage.”

In the Sunset District, the impact on homes and businesses lasted even longer. A planned power outage that occurred at midnight on December 29 marked the sixth power outage affecting Sunset District in December 2025, according to District 4 Supervisor Alan Wong.

The latest outage on December 29 affected a small portion of the Sunset neighborhood and was related to PG&E turning off temporary generators operating near Golden Gate Park and a neighboring district. The temporary generators were installed following the Mission Substation outage on December 20, and the shutdown occurred as part of the transition process, Wong said.

The series of power outages in Sunset District began on December 7, then December 10 and December 20 being part of the citywide outrage, and December 24.

Wong said his office continued to hear concerns from residents about inaccurate or delayed outage notifications, unclear or shifting restoration estimates, and challenges navigating the compensation process.

One of the concerns was related to the compensation amounts announced by PG&E that were $200 for each residential and $2,500 for each business customer.

Constituents in District 4 reported to Wong that the $200 compensation was insufficient to offset the disruptions caused by repeated outages and that the claims process remains difficult to access and understand.

“As these outages continue, accurate outage notifications, clear restoration timelines, and accessible claims processes are essential,” said Wong. “My office will continue to press for improvements in communication, restoration transparency, and resident support.”

Wong called for concrete actions to address both immediate impacts and long-term reliability, including establishing a designated PG&E liaison for District 4 outages, providing real-time, time-stamped outage updates, and ensuring multilingual outage notifications.

Wong also urged a simplified claims process with automatic credits for repeated outages and follow-up for small businesses seeking reimbursement for lost revenue.

According to the information listed by PG&E on its website with respect to the massive San Francisco outage on December 20, PG&E will offer credits on the next bills of affected homes and businesses. A residential customer will get $200 and businesses will receive approximately $2,500 each.

"You don't need to do anything. The credit will show on your bill as 'Customer Satisfaction Adjustment.' There is no need to submit a claim for any losses under the bill credit amount," PG&E stated.

"We recognize the significant impact this outage had on our customers, and we are committed to providing immediate and meaningful support," said Vincent Davis, PG&E Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer. "We are making this as fast and easy as possible for our customers."

PG&E will also reach out directly to inform customers about the credits, PG&E stated.

For the customers who plan to submit additional claims in order to offset the business loss by the outages, PG&E suggested that they should retain copies of all receipts and provide full and accurate documentation of losses or damages. By completing the claim forms as thoroughly as possible and by enclosing appropriate supporting documentation, the claims will be expedited.

Claims can be submitted online via PG&E's website. The web page address: https://www.pge.com/en/account/customer-service/claims.html

"If you submit a claim that is approved for more than the credit amount, PG&E will pay the difference through the claims process. If you had other losses, you can file a claim. We're sorry for the trouble this outage caused," PG&E said.

More storms are expected to arrive in the San Francisco Bay Area this winter, the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management ( www.sf.gov/power-outages ) and PG&E have provided power outage and storm preparedness tips on their websites and social media channels.