A mysterious blackout in Southern California left over 100,000 people without power Thursday night, with residents still in the dark about what caused the incident.
The massive outage started suddenly at 7.41pm PT (10.41pm ET) in San Diego and Orange Counties, affecting thousands of homes, businesses and public roadways throughout the area.
San Diego Gas & Electric said power was restored to all customers by 9pm local time. The cause of the blackout is reportedly still under investigation.
According to California's outage-tracking website, at least 300 customers in San Diego are currently without power because of 'unplanned' disruptions. Over 3,500 more customers have lost electricity in neighboring Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties due to planned utility work in the region.
State officials, including Governor Gavin Newsom, have not issued any statements regarding the incident more than 12 hours after two of California's most populous areas lost power - which is home to more than six million people.
Moreover, the state's Office of Emergency Services did not even acknowledge a large-scale blackout had taken place, with the agency's website and social media accounts making no mention of the incident as of Friday morning.
Despite the complete absence of communication from state officials, residents in the blackout zone captured frightening video of drivers speeding along pitch-black roads with no traffic lights or street lamps working.
'California is having a night straight out of a disaster movie,' one person said on X.
Power in Orange and San Diego Counties went out at 7.41pm PT, affecting thousands throughout the region
A local Costco in Carlsbad, California was one of several businesses that lost power during the blackout on March 26, 2026
With the FBI previously warning of a potential terror attack on the state, many suspected the blackout may have been caused by an Iranian-led cyberattack on the US.
'Not by accident either! [Definitely] an attack on the grid,' one person claimed without evidence.
'Hackers from Iran giving Cali a taste were they are capable of,' another social media user alleged.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Governor Newsom's office for comment on the investigation.
SDG&E in a statement: 'We understand how disruptive outages can be and are working to investigate the cause. The safety of our customers, employees and communities remains our top priority.'
At this time, officials have not stated that the outage was connected to a cyberattack on US infrastructure.
However, cyber warfare experts have told the Daily Mail that the nation's power grid could become a target of foreign hackers as the conflict in Iran continues.
Iran has already claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on Michigan-based medical technology giant Stryker in early March.
San Diego Gas & Electric revealed large sections of Southern California lost power for approximately 100 minutes Thursday night
The Iran-linked hacker group Handala knocked thousands of employees offline and disrupted internal systems across the company's global network.
James Knight, a cybersecurity specialist for DigitalWarfare.com, warned that Iranian-affiliated hackers are already probing American systems.
'There's definitely evidence' of targeting,' he said, describing it as 'low to medium' intensity.
Knight added that Iranian-linked operatives could already be inside the US, equipped with hacking toolkits capable of targeting banks, pipelines, hospitals or power grids.
The FBI also alerted California law enforcement about potential Iranian drone strikes on the West Coast in retaliation for the US war against the Islamic Republic.
The Daily Mail has contacted the FBI for further details regarding the incident and is awaiting their response.
As for what Americans should do in the event of a widespread collapse of the US power grid, US Air Force veteran and Doomsday prepper Sean Gold said people need to be prepared with at least a few days' worth of emergency supplies.
A major blackout could quickly ripple through all aspects of everyday life: traffic signals could fail, grocery stores would close, ATMs and banks would be offline, hospitals could be overwhelmed and emergency services would be stretched thin.
Gold told the Daily Mail in January: 'Work on your general preparedness. Power outages often come hand-in-hand with supply chain disruptions, so have food, water, fuel, etc on hand. Planning for three days of self-sufficiency is a good starting point.'
The US government has also revealed a list of 14 items Americans should keep on hand in case of an emergency.
At the top of the list was water, at least one gallon per person per day, along with several days' worth of non-perishable food.
Americans were also urged by the Department of Homeland Security to keep critical safety items such as flashlights, radios, batteries and first-aid kits readily available in a portable emergency supply kit.