What You Need to Know About Wildfire Season

Media
Oct 17
2 min read

Helping you stay safe and informed

Stay informed about wildfire-related outages

The devastating wildfires that occurred in Los Angeles last January serve as a powerful reminder of how quickly fire conditions can escalate. As wildfire conditions intensify across California, we want to make sure you and your loved ones are ready. Even if your neighborhood hasn’t experienced a wildfire-related power outage before, conditions can change quickly, and it’s important to stay prepared.

Why power might be turned off

When strong winds and dry weather increase the risk of wildfires, SDG&E may need to turn off power in certain areas temporarily. This is known as a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS), a precaution we take to help prevent wildfires. Wind-blown debris can strike powerlines, causing sparks and potential fires. Our approach to PSPS is careful and targeted, guided by data-informed decision-making and real-time conditions.

In rare cases, transmission lines that bring large amounts of electricity into a community may be turned off, impacting a broader group of customers, including those in areas not typically impacted by PSPS or served by underground powerlines. Although fire conditions can rapidly escalate, if SDG&E anticipates the need to implement a PSPS, time permitting, you will be notified ahead of any potential outage via text, phone and email.

While PSPS events primarily affect high fire-risk zones, all residents are encouraged to be prepared, as outages can extend beyond those boundaries.

What you can do now to prepare:

Update your contact information at sdge.com/notifications.
Download the Alerts by SDG&E app for real-time PSPS updates and safety tips
Create an emergency plan and assemble a safety kit so everyone knows where to go and what to do in case of an emergency.
Learn more about PSPS and how SDG&E is taking steps to protect our communities by downloading our Wildfire Safety Newsletter or visiting sdge.com/PSPS.

Learn More

We know power outages are never easy, and we don’t take these decisions lightly. Our top priority is keeping you and your community safe. Thank you for being a part of a more prepared and resilient region.