The best time to prepare for a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) is before it happens. Use these simple steps to get ready:

• Learn about fire weather and how Southern California Edison (SCE) decides when to turn off power. Visit sce.com/fireweather (website).
• Watch the weather forecast for high winds (website).
• If you use medical equipment that needs power, sign up for SCE’s Medical Baseline program (website).
• Check if you qualify for SCE’s Critical Care Backup Battery Program (website).
• Think about getting a generator or battery backup for your home. Visit SCE's Marketplace for discount offer on certain models (website).
• Build an emergency kit for your household. Visit ready.gov for emergency kit ideas (website).
• Keep your car’s gas tank at least half full.
• Know how to use your garage door’s manual release.
• Keep fresh batteries for flashlights. Do not use candles, as they can cause fires.
• Keep emergency road triangles in your car so others can see you at night.
• Keep a backup phone charger or a solar charger.

 Being prepared helps keep you and your family safe.

• Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as you can. Food may stay safe for about 4 to 6 hours during an outage, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Leave one light on so you know when power is back.
• Turn off or unplug appliances that were on when the power went out. Power can surge when it returns and damage items like computers to refrigerators.
• Never use a generator inside your home or garage. This can be very dangerous.
• Be patient. Some neighbors, businesses, and service providers may be using  generators.

These steps can help keep you and your family safe during an outage.

• Visit Southern California Edison (SCE) at sce.com/PSPS to learn about power shutoffs and view maps of affected areas (website).
• For current outage details, go to sce.com/outage-center/check-outage-status (website).
• Sign up for outage alerts at sce.com/outage-center/outage-alerts (website)
• Call SCE at (800) 611-1911 to speak with a customer service representative.

 

Elevated weather conditions can cause vegetation or other items to be blown into power lines possibly creating a wildfire. Under these situations, we may temporarily shut off power to customers to keep you and your community safe. SCE considers a number of factors and conditions before declaring a PSPS. These include, but are not limited to:
• High winds (including Red Flag Warnings declared by the National Weather Service)
• Low humidity
• Dry vegetation that could serve as fuel
• On-the-ground observations
• Fire threat to electric infrastructure
• Public safety risk

Southern California Edison PSPS Decision-Making Process

Each utility determines when a PSPS is called and how it will be implemented. California’s three largest investor owned utilities, at the direction of the California Public Utilities Commission, are coordinating to prepare all Californians for the threat of wildfires and power outages during times of extreme weather. Find more information about this statewide effort at: prepareforpowerdown.com.

Customers who live in high fire risk areas as defined by the California Public Utilities Commission are more likely to experience a PSPS. However, customers who do not live in these high fire risk areas may also be impacted because of how the electrical grid is interconnected. SCE has a network of circuits providing power to 15 million people within a 50,000-square-mile area of central, coastal and Southern California. Anyone in California could be impacted by emergency events such as PSPS and need to be prepared with a plan.

We engage and identify critical care customers on an ongoing basis well before a PSPS. Power outages also happen in our service area unrelated to a PSPS, so customers need to be prepared to ensure medical equipment will still run during an outage. We encourage our critical care customers to have a backup plan now. Customers with special medical equipment should ensure that we have their most up-to-date contact information so we can notify them of a power shutoff. For more information: sce.com/MedicalBaseline.

Note: Critical care customers are a subset of customers called “medical baseline” customers. Medical baseline customers may have medical equipment, but not all of that equipment is critical, life-saving equipment.

Customers who are not enrolled in an income-qualified program and do not meet the qualifications for the Critical Care Backup Battery Program can still check their eligibility for Medical Baseline online at sce.com/medicalbaseline, which is now available in 19 languages, including Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese and Tagalog.

To learn more about rebates and incentives for portable power solutions, including the Critical Care Backup Battery Program, customers should visit sce.com/customerresources. Customers who are not enrolled in an income-qualified program can learn more on how they can apply by visiting sce.com/careandfera.

We intend to notify affected customers approximately two days in advance of a potential power shutoff. This notification will be via email, text or phone call. We may also send another notice to customers about one day before a potential power shutoff. We will keep customers updated regularly on our website and social media channels. We will also notify affected customers when power has been restored. SCE customers can sign up for PSPS alerts at: www.sce.com/wildfire/psps-alerts.

In advance of PSPS events, SCE will meet with local governments, emergency management community and first responders to inform them about the PSPS protocol, including the location of circuits in their jurisdictions which may be shut off during a PSPS.

A PSPS event will last as long as the dangerous fire weather conditions exist. If circuits are shut off, those circuits and lines will be inspected to ensure there are no problems that might create a danger before power can be safely restored. SCE crews will need to visually inspect the power lines during daylight hours so operations may be limited during overnight hours.

Customers should be prepared to be without power for an extended period of time during a PSPS. Customers should prepare emergency plans now.

Southern California Edison is regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). Residents/Edison customers may contact the CPUC at:

Toll free at: (800) 649-7570 Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

By Mail:
California Public Utilities Commission
Consumer Affairs Branch
505 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94102

Email: consumer-affairs@cpuc.ca.gov

Online: CPUC Complaint Form

System reliability may be impacted during a rare, wider scale PSPS event and could result in rotating outages. Customers could be without power for an extended period of time and should take steps now to be prepared. Find preparedness tips at: sce.com/BePrepared or readyforwildfire.org.

Turning off power during elevated weather events is just one component of SCE’s Wildfire Mitigation Plan. We continue to reduce the risk of electrical equipment igniting wildfires, going beyond industry practices to address the new conditions we are facing. We’ve implemented a variety of technologies for advanced fire safety, including installation of new high-definition cameras, weather stations and miles of insulated power lines. We are also expanding operational practices such as enhanced overhead inspections, vegetation management and emergency response protocols.

Remember that SCE will pay qualified spoilage claims for food and medicine to eligible customers.  More information is available at SCE.com/claims.