San Francisco power outage: Costco closed, traffic lights dark, thousands affected

San Francisco was hit by a sudden power outage on Thursday evening — exactly when many people were trying to finish their shopping before the long holiday weekend. According to utility PG&E, more than 2,400 customers lost power in several neighborhoods, including Showplace Square, Mission Bay, South of Market and Potrero Hill.

The outage became especially visible at the Costco on 10th Street. Staff reportedly had to turn customers away, while traffic outside also started to feel the disruption. Traffic lights in the surrounding area were out. For a major city, a local outage like this is not the end of the world. But it is more than enough to throw everyday life off balance within minutes: full shopping carts stop moving, refrigerated goods become a concern, card payments may fail and intersections suddenly turn into a test of patience.

The outage was reported at 7:12 p.m. local time. PG&E described it as unplanned. Crews were checking the electrical system, looking for damaged sections and working to restore service safely. By Friday morning, power had returned. The exact cause, however, was not immediately clear.

The incident is also noteworthy because San Francisco had already seen several power interruptions in recent days. According to the report, thousands of customers were affected in other neighborhoods the previous week, including areas around Golden Gate Park, Inner Sunset, Haight-Ashbury, Mount Sutro, Castro, Mission and Potrero Hill. One outage does not make a citywide blackout. But repeated incidents can make urban infrastructure feel nervous, fragile and far less invisible than usual.

For households, the lesson is uncomfortably simple: power outages do not only happen during storms, earthquakes or official disaster warnings. They can happen on an ordinary evening while people are shopping, cooking, working or standing in an elevator. Anyone who cannot find a flashlight, has a nearly empty phone battery or keeps no small reserve of water, cash and food at home quickly learns how dependent daily life is on outlets and stable networks.

The timing before a holiday weekend makes the situation even more sensitive. Stores are busy, roads are fuller and many people rely on being able to take care of things at the last minute. If lights, registers, traffic signals and refrigeration all fail at the same time, a small technical problem becomes a very public warning shot.

San Francisco was lucky: power came back overnight. Still, the message is clear. A local power outage does not have to be huge to feel huge. For the people affected, the key question is not the statistic. It is whether there is light, information, water and a plan at home.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle, July 3, 2026, San Francisco PG&E outage hit Costco area before July Fourth weekend.