This Isn’t the First SF Holiday Season Power Outage. A Blackout 22 years Ago Was Eerily Similar

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle  |  By Julie Johnson

Widespread blackouts hit San Francisco at the worst time. Christmas shoppers crowded commercial districts. Restaurants were buzzing and the city’s concert venues were packed for holiday shows.  Suddenly, the lights went dark in about 120,000 businesses and homes. BART trains bypassed Powell and Civic Center stations. Food went bad in warm refrigerators. 

Mark Toney, executive director of utility customer advocate group The Utility Reform Network, or TURN, told the Chronicle on Monday that his organization wanted the commission’s investigation to examine the connection between all three fires. “The fact that it’s happened before in the same location — absolutely there are questions that ought to be answered,” Toney said.