SAN FRANCISCO -- When a massive power outage ground the city to a halt Tuesday, it took Benjamin Coe's high-tech world with it.

Coe's telephone didn't work, and his cellular phone batteries were dead. He blew an important online business meeting because he couldn't log on. And when he dashed out to get in his car for a trip to Chicago, his electric garage door opener just clicked softly in his hand."I had no idea how much I relied on electricity until today," said Coe, a software sales manager. "Ten years ago this wouldn't have been any problem at all."

He was not the only one frustrated Tuesday, when a construction crew's mistake led to a blackout that affected nearly 1 million people. Office workers were trapped in high-rise elevators, trains and the city's cable cars halted and the airport had to divert incoming planes.

The power went out across the 49-square-mile city as well as several suburbs to the south at 8:17 a.m. It took more than seven hours before electricity was restored to everyone.

A construction crew forgot to remove two grounding rods after completing maintenance on a substation switchboard, causing a blowout and triggering a chain reaction that knocked two generators offline, said Gordon Smith, president of Pacific Gas & Electric.

Since three of the five lines powering San Francisco converge there, substations throughout the city went down. Sabotage caused a similar blackout 14 months ago, leaving 250,000 people in the dark for 3 1/2 hours.

Mayor Willie Brown declared a state of emergency, allowing Municipal Railway passengers to ride buses, trolleys and trains free of charge until midnight.

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.