Westfield UTC experienced a significant power outage Friday night that appears to have affected much of the sprawling University City shopping center, leaving shoppers and diners in the dark and bringing an abrupt end to one of the mall's busiest periods of the week. An outage alert reported 311 customers affected in the surrounding University City area, while shoppers described navigating darkened mall walkways back to their vehicles and at least one restaurant reportedly sent diners home without their checks after losing the ability to process payments.
The outage occurred shortly before 8pm on Friday, August 14. A SanDiegoVille reader who was dining at the shopping center said the power went out at approximately 7:50pm, based on the timestamp of a text message they sent immediately afterward.
"We were at UTC last night and the whole mall had a blackout," the reader told SanDiegoVille. "Power went out at the entire place."
The timing is supported by other reports from the area. An alert shared with SanDiegoVille shows a report of a power outage at the mall at 7:46pm. At 8pm, another alert citing PowerOutage.com reported an outage affecting 311 customers approximately half a mile away in University City.
That broader outage report is significant because it suggests the electrical failure may not have been confined exclusively to Westfield UTC, although SanDiegoVille has not yet confirmed with SDG&E the precise boundaries or cause of the outage.
The SanDiegoVille reader said conditions inside the mall remained dark through at least 8:30pm, when their party finished dinner and attempted to return to their vehicle.
"Walking through the mall completely in the dark to get back to our car around 8:30pm," the reader said, adding that they did not encounter security personnel while making their way through the darkened property.
Numerous people who were at Westfield UTC Friday evening also took to Reddit as the outage unfolded.
"The mall is dark. Anyone else affected?" one person posted to the San Diego subreddit.
Others quickly confirmed disruptions across the property, including near AMC UTC 14. One commenter said a store general manager had been told that 9pm was the estimated restoration time, while another reported that the shopping center had closed for the remainder of the evening.
The outage also apparently produced an unexpected windfall for at least some Friday night diners. One Reddit user dining at Din Tai Fung claimed the restaurant was unable to process payment following the outage and ultimately told the customer's party they could leave without paying.
"The waiter said they couldn't take payment and that once we were done eating we were free to go!" the diner wrote.
Another person said they had joined the notoriously busy restaurant's waitlist at 3pm, only to arrive later and discover the restaurant had closed following the outage.
Moviegoers were similarly affected. One customer planning to see a Friday night movie at AMC UTC 14 reported that the theater canceled its remaining screenings for the evening.
There also appears to have been an emergency response near the theater after the outage began. An incident alert shared with SanDiegoVille lists a "Person in Need of Assistance at AMC La Jolla" at approximately 8:36pm, about 45 minutes after the power reportedly failed. It is not presently known what prompted that response or whether it had any connection to the outage, and SanDiegoVille is not suggesting the two incidents were necessarily related.
Exactly what caused Friday night's electrical failure remains unclear as of Saturday morning. The report of 311 customers without power in University City makes a broader utility outage more plausible than initial accounts from inside the mall alone suggested. However, SanDiegoVille has not yet received confirmation from SDG&E establishing whether those customers included Westfield UTC, what equipment or incident caused the outage, or precisely how much of the surrounding neighborhood lost service. SanDiegoVille has contacted both Westfield UTC and SDG&E seeking answers.
There also appears to have been an emergency response near the theater after the outage began. An incident alert shared with SanDiegoVille lists a "Person in Need of Assistance at AMC La Jolla" at approximately 8:36pm, about 45 minutes after the power reportedly failed. It is not presently known what prompted that response or whether it had any connection to the outage, and SanDiegoVille is not suggesting the two incidents were necessarily related.
Exactly what caused Friday night's electrical failure remains unclear as of Saturday morning. The report of 311 customers without power in University City makes a broader utility outage more plausible than initial accounts from inside the mall alone suggested. However, SanDiegoVille has not yet received confirmation from SDG&E establishing whether those customers included Westfield UTC, what equipment or incident caused the outage, or precisely how much of the surrounding neighborhood lost service. SanDiegoVille has contacted both Westfield UTC and SDG&E seeking answers.
Beyond the cause, the blackout raises questions about conditions inside one of San Diego's largest shopping centers once normal lighting disappeared. The reader who contacted SanDiegoVille described navigating portions of the property in darkness approximately 40 minutes after the initial failure and said they did not see security personnel during the walk back to their vehicle.
It is not yet clear whether all required emergency lighting activated throughout the property, whether portions of the center retained backup power, what procedures Westfield implemented to assist customers, whether the mall was formally evacuated or closed, or precisely when normal electrical service was restored.
Those questions are particularly noteworthy given the enormous scale and Friday-night crowds at Westfield UTC. The shopping center encompasses more than one million square feet and contains nearly 200 stores, restaurants and other businesses, making it one of Southern California's premier retail destinations.
The outage also comes during a period of extraordinary investment in the property. Westfield parent company Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield announced earlier this year that it had agreed to acquire the remaining 50% ownership interest in Westfield UTC in a transaction valued at approximately $705 million, a deal that will give the French retail real estate giant full ownership of the center.
At the same time, UTC is undergoing another major expansion intended to further establish the property as San Diego County's dominant luxury shopping destination, with an expanding collection of high-end fashion, jewelry, watch and lifestyle brands.
Friday night's outage provided a starkly different scene. Instead of the carefully illuminated restaurants, luxury storefronts and landscaped promenades that have become hallmarks of the property, visitors described a shopping center suddenly plunged into darkness, restaurants unable to conduct normal business and moviegoers discovering that the rest of their Friday-night screenings had been canceled.
By Saturday morning, the most basic questions remained unanswered: What caused the outage, how widespread was it, and why were portions of one of San Diego's busiest commercial properties reportedly still dark roughly 40 minutes after the power failed?
SanDiegoVille has contacted Westfield UTC seeking information regarding the extent and duration of the outage, whether the mall formally closed early, when power was fully restored, what emergency lighting and security protocols were implemented and whether any safety incidents occurred.
SanDiegoVille has separately contacted SDG&E seeking confirmation of the reported 311-customer University City outage, including its geographic boundaries, cause, restoration time and whether Westfield UTC was among the affected customers.
This story will be updated as additional information becomes available.
Westfield UTC is located at 4545 La Jolla Village Drive in San Diego's University City neighborhood. For more information, visit westfield.com/en/united-states/utc.
It is not yet clear whether all required emergency lighting activated throughout the property, whether portions of the center retained backup power, what procedures Westfield implemented to assist customers, whether the mall was formally evacuated or closed, or precisely when normal electrical service was restored.
Those questions are particularly noteworthy given the enormous scale and Friday-night crowds at Westfield UTC. The shopping center encompasses more than one million square feet and contains nearly 200 stores, restaurants and other businesses, making it one of Southern California's premier retail destinations.
The outage also comes during a period of extraordinary investment in the property. Westfield parent company Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield announced earlier this year that it had agreed to acquire the remaining 50% ownership interest in Westfield UTC in a transaction valued at approximately $705 million, a deal that will give the French retail real estate giant full ownership of the center.
At the same time, UTC is undergoing another major expansion intended to further establish the property as San Diego County's dominant luxury shopping destination, with an expanding collection of high-end fashion, jewelry, watch and lifestyle brands.
Friday night's outage provided a starkly different scene. Instead of the carefully illuminated restaurants, luxury storefronts and landscaped promenades that have become hallmarks of the property, visitors described a shopping center suddenly plunged into darkness, restaurants unable to conduct normal business and moviegoers discovering that the rest of their Friday-night screenings had been canceled.
By Saturday morning, the most basic questions remained unanswered: What caused the outage, how widespread was it, and why were portions of one of San Diego's busiest commercial properties reportedly still dark roughly 40 minutes after the power failed?
SanDiegoVille has contacted Westfield UTC seeking information regarding the extent and duration of the outage, whether the mall formally closed early, when power was fully restored, what emergency lighting and security protocols were implemented and whether any safety incidents occurred.
SanDiegoVille has separately contacted SDG&E seeking confirmation of the reported 311-customer University City outage, including its geographic boundaries, cause, restoration time and whether Westfield UTC was among the affected customers.
This story will be updated as additional information becomes available.
Westfield UTC is located at 4545 La Jolla Village Drive in San Diego's University City neighborhood. For more information, visit westfield.com/en/united-states/utc.
Originally published on August 15, 2026.
