Although PG&E admitted last night's power outage at Candlestick Park was due to an exploding transformer, the historically volatile power company doesn't want to take the fall for the incident. As a utility company spokesman told the Chronicle, a PG&E power line "lost power for an unknown reason" just before the first outage at 5:19 p.m. last night, but the actual problem occurred when a city-owned transfer switch failed to keep a constant flow of electricity. So, let's recap:

  • A PG&E power line failed to do its job of, you know, delivering power.
  • A city-owned auto-transfer switch failed to do its job of automatically transferring power.
  • A transformer exploded and left tens of thousands of football fans in the dark.
  • Somehow, this is not PG&E's fault.


As for the second outage, the notoriously cagey power company maintains its equipment was not the problem there either, but they still have no idea what caused it. So far, no one from the Public Utilities Commission has stepped up to make comment for the city.

[Chron]