Fire at another PGE substation leaves thousands without power on Christmas Eve
Dec 24, 2025
(KRON) -- For the second time in just a matter of days, a fire at a PGE substation has left tens of thousands without power. The fire on Wednesday broke out at around 8:25 a.m. at the utility's Saratoga Substation.
The fire has been contained, according to PGE. Initially, about 21,000 customers wer
e left without power as a result. In a subsequent update, a PGE spokesperson told KRON4 that over 12,000 customers had had power restored with around 8,000 remaining without power.
As of around 12:11 p.m., PGE reported that power had been fully restored in the area.
Viewer video from Charles in Saratoga (watch in the player above) showed black smoke emanating from the building visible from the side of the road.
PGE said it has officials on-site supporting crews and first responders.
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Earlier, PGE's outage map showed massive swathes of customers in the area around Saratoga, Santa Cruz and the surrounding area without power.
Map: PGE
Wednesday's fire followed a similar fire at a PGE substation in San Francisco on Saturday. That fire led to a widespread blackout across the city that lasted days and at its height, left 130,000 customers in the dark.
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