SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A power failure enveloped a large part of the city Tuesday, knocking out traffic lights, halting elevators and disrupting the morning commute.

Apparently the problem was concentrated in the 49-square-mile area of San Francisco, but there were reports of power outages from as far away as San Mateo, about 20 miles to the south."There is a problem in the electrical distribution system. We're working to pinpoint it now," said Len Anderson, a spokesman for Pacific Gas & Electric.

"At the moment, we have about 174,000 customers without electricity in San Francisco and on the peninsula approximately 92,000 without electricity," he said.

All of the traffic lights in downtown San Francisco were out, callers told KGO Radio, which also had reports of outages across the Bay in San Ramon.

Flights headed into San Francisco International Airport were being diverted to San Jose or Oakland, said Western Region Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Mitch Barker in Seattle.

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"The security checkpoints at San Francisco were shut down as well," Barker said of the power outage at the airport.

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