Overview
- The Dec. 20 substation fire cut power to roughly one-third of San Francisco, and officials said the fire department learned of it after more than an hour and the city’s emergency managers after about two hours.
- Executives said an AI tool produced inaccurate restoration times and pledged a rapid human override team, expanded training data, and upgraded notification protocols.
- Firefighters reported relying on paper building plans at the Mission substation; PG&E said it will digitize plans to tablets within weeks and increase joint training with city agencies.
- An independent third-party probe into the circuit-breaker failure is underway, with PG&E expecting findings in March and inviting a city observer to the testing.
- PG&E walked back its CEO’s claim that Mayor Daniel Lurie asked the utility to prioritize the Opera House; the mayor’s office denied directing PG&E and the city’s emergency agency said it merely relayed the venue’s request.