A massive power outage plunged large portions of San Francisco into darkness Saturday, knocking out traffic signals, disrupting daily life, and leaving autonomous Waymo vehicles frozen at intersections across the city in a stark display of how fragile so-called smart city infrastructure can be.
The outage began as early as 9:40 a.m. and ultimately cut electricity to roughly 130,000 customers, according to SFGATE. Nearly a third of the city was affected as power went out in neighborhood after neighborhood, creating immediate safety concerns and widespread disruption.
Among the most visible consequences was the failure of traffic signals across major corridors. With intersections left uncontrolled, Waymo’s fleet of autonomous vehicles struggled to function. Pedestrians recorded videos showing driverless cars stopped in the middle of intersections with hazard lights flashing, apparently unable to proceed without working signals to guide them.
As the day wore on, the situation worsened. By 8 p.m., Waymo made the decision to suspend its ride-hailing service altogether after its vehicles began contributing to traffic backups at darkened intersections. Waymo spokesperson Suzanne Philion confirmed the shutdown, saying the company halted operations in response to the scope of the outage.
Massive San Francisco power outage leaves 130k in the dark, self-driving cars stalled https://t.co/qszBemhZYz pic.twitter.com/3rYsEEMVJW
— New York Post (@nypost) December 21, 2025
“We have temporarily suspended our ride-hailing services given the broad power outage in San Francisco,” Philion told SFGATE. She said the company was focused on rider safety and ensuring that emergency personnel could move freely through the city.
The blackout impacted a wide swath of San Francisco, including the Richmond and Sunset districts, Haight-Ashbury, Hayes Valley, Forest Hill, all of Golden Gate Park, and the Presidio. Portions of downtown and the South of Market area were also left without power, compounding the disruption in some of the city’s busiest areas.
Pacific Gas and Electric traced the outage to a problem at a substation located at 8th Street and Mission Streets. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said in an Instagram post that PG&E crews were actively assessing damage at the facility. He cautioned residents that the problems might not be resolved quickly, warning that disruptions could last “into the early morning hours.”
City officials did not provide a clear timeline for when electricity would be restored, leaving residents and businesses in limbo as darkness fell and basic services remained compromised.
Beyond the immediate inconvenience, the incident highlighted deeper concerns about San Francisco’s heavy reliance on technology-driven solutions. The sight of autonomous vehicles rendered helpless by a routine infrastructure failure raised fresh questions about the readiness of driverless technology to safely operate in real-world conditions, especially when basic systems like traffic lights fail.
The stalled Waymo cars served as a real-time demonstration of the limits of autonomous systems, which depend on functioning public infrastructure to navigate safely. Without power, those systems appeared unable to adapt, leaving vehicles stranded and intersections clogged.
As San Francisco continues to push forward with ambitious technology initiatives, Saturday’s outage offered a sobering reminder that innovation is only as reliable as the infrastructure supporting it. For many residents, the blackout was more than just an inconvenience — it was a warning about the risks of putting too much trust in systems that can grind to a halt when the lights go out.
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