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Supervisor Holds Hearing on PG&E Power Outages in San Francisco
Widespread outage left over a third of residents and businesses without power for days
Feb. 12, 2026 at 9:15pm by Ben Kaplan
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Supervisor Alan Wong convened an oversight hearing to examine PG&E's response to the widespread power outages that left more than one third of San Francisco residents and businesses without electricity for nearly three days. The outage caused significant disruptions across the city, impacting food, businesses, seniors, and medically vulnerable residents. Supervisors pressed PG&E on issues like restoration estimates, communication, and the claims process, while merchants and residents shared firsthand testimony about the real-world impacts.
Why it matters
The extended power outage highlighted serious deficiencies in PG&E's relationship with San Francisco residents, businesses, and public safety organizations. The hearing aimed to secure transparency, relief, and commitments to prevent such widespread and disruptive outages from happening again in the future.
The details
The outage began at PG&E's Mission Substation during a busy shopping weekend, causing cascading impacts across the city. Supervisors questioned PG&E on issues like restoration time estimates, notification timing to city departments, language access, call center performance, and whether relief amounts matched documented losses. Merchants and residents described losing inventory, revenue, and facing personal hardships like medical equipment failures.
- The power outage began on an unspecified date in December.
- The oversight hearing was held on February 12, 2026.
The players
Supervisor Alan Wong
The San Francisco supervisor who convened the oversight hearing.
Supervisor Matt Dorsey
The District 6 supervisor who chairs the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee and represents the neighborhood where the incident originated.
Supervisor Bilal Mahmood
The District 5 supervisor who co-sponsored the hearing and said there were serious deficiencies in PG&E's relationship with residents, business owners, and public safety organizations.
PG&E
The utility company responsible for the power outage and whose representatives presented data and were questioned during the hearing.
Sean Kim
The Vice President of the Geary Boulevard Merchant Association and owner of Joe's Ice Cream, who testified about the impact on small businesses.
Daniel Ramirez
Representing the Sunset Merchants Association and owner of Smokin D's BBQ SF, who testified about the impact on small businesses.
Sarah Du
A District 4 resident who described the personal impact of the outage on her husband's medical equipment and health.
What they’re saying
“This was not a minor inconvenience. It was food spoiling, workers losing shifts, seniors sitting in the dark, small businesses bleeding revenue by the hour, and families scrambling to protect medically vulnerable loved ones. Our residents deserve answers, but more importantly, they deserve accountability.”
— Supervisor Alan Wong
“One third of our City losing power for days was not a routine outage. It was a systemic failure with real human consequences. The December outages disrupted thousands of residents, families, seniors, and small businesses already operating on thin margins. As chair of this committee and as the supervisor representing the neighborhood where this incident originated, I'm focused on securing transparency, meaningful relief and measurable commitments to prevent this from happening again. Our constituents deserve reliable infrastructure, clear communication, and a claims process that reflects the true cost of these disruptions.”
— Supervisor Matt Dorsey
“When the power goes out, my freezers shut down and the ice cream melts. That's weeks of inventory and revenue gone in hours. Small businesses need a claims process that is clear, fair, workable and reliable infrastructure so this does not keep happening.”
— Sean Kim, Vice President, Geary Boulevard Merchant Association and owner of Joe's Ice Cream
“My business was down for three days during peak holiday week. Those sales don't come back later. The $2,500 credit is a start, but it doesn't cover multi-day losses. We need a claims process that works the first time and timelines we can rely on.”
— Daniel Ramirez, Representing the Sunset Merchants Association and owner of Smokin D's BBQ SF
“On the day of the outage, our home went completely dark and my husband's breathing machine stopped working. He fell while trying to move through the house in the dark. I had to call an ambulance. He was hospitalized until January, then transferred to a nursing facility. He just returned home yesterday, but his condition has worsened significantly.”
— Sarah Du, District 4 resident
What’s next
The item was continued to a future committee meeting to allow PG&E to return with written follow-up, updated data and specific commitments. A second hearing will focus on root causes and infrastructure improvements to prevent repeated outages.
The takeaway
The extended power outage highlighted serious deficiencies in PG&E's relationship with San Francisco residents, businesses, and public safety organizations, disrupting thousands of lives and livelihoods. The City will continue pressing for reliability, transparency, and meaningful accountability to ensure residents and small businesses are better protected in the future.
