San Francisco’s mayor and other city leaders are asking California regulators to open a public review of PG&E’s electric service, citing at least 40 major unplanned outages in the city since January, recent electrical fires and delays to key infrastructure projects. Mayor Daniel Lurie, City Attorney David Chiu, Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman and San Francisco Public Utilities Commission General Manager Dennis Herrera sent the request Thursday, Oct. 8, to California Public Utilities Commission President John Reynolds. The officials want a formal proceeding that examines both the December 2025 Mission Substation fire and broader reliability problems across the city. The city counts an outage as large-scale if it affects at least 1,000 customer accounts and lasts longer than 15 minutes. Two outages earlier this week affected thousands of PG&E customers in separate parts of San Francisco. In their letter, officials said “safe and reliable” electricity is especially important in a densely populated city. They asked regulators to assess the condition of PG&E’s infrastructure and how the utility responds when equipment fails. The city also wants its staff and consultants to participate in the review. The request follows a December 2025 fire at PG&E’s Mission Substation that affected about 130,000 customer accounts. Some customers lost power for several days, and others experienced additional outages in the weeks afterward. The CPUC’s Safety and Enforcement Division opened an investigation into that fire. In a June response to Chiu, Reynolds said investigators had inspected the site, reviewed evidence and requested data. He said the investigation was still active and that the commission could not discuss it publicly in detail. San Francisco is now seeking a broader, public examination. City officials also raised concerns about PG&E projects intended to strengthen the grid. The Egbert Switching Station, initially expected to begin operating in 2021, is now projected to enter service in 2029. The city says the station is important to improving reliability and reducing the risk of widespread outages. The letter further challenges PG&E’s plan to sell Substation I, a deactivated facility near the Mission Substation. PG&E told the city in August that it planned to put the property on the market. Officials say regulators should first determine whether the site is needed to address problems at Mission or serve future electricity demand. The city’s request also cites two recent fires involving PG&E electrical equipment: a September fire near Mission and First streets that disrupted morning traffic, and an underground downtown fire the previous week that led to a shelter-in-place order and street closures. San Francisco leaders say residents need a clearer account of PG&E’s spending on the city’s electrical system and whether that investment is sufficient to provide dependable service. The utility has faced wider scrutiny over spending requests as California customers grapple with electricity bills; PG&E has said it plans to scale back some spending while reassessing its finances and the state’s wildfire liability system. The city has also pursued greater local control of its electrical infrastructure, including a proposed acquisition of PG&E’s system in San Francisco. The Board of Supervisors affirmed the environmental review for that effort last month.