SoCal power shutoffs possible Friday and Saturday: how to check
SCE and SDG&E are weighing shutoffs for about 45,000 customers as heat and dry air raise fire risk. Here is how to check your address and prepare.
Two Southern California utilities say they may turn off power to some neighborhoods on Friday and Saturday to lower the chance of a power line starting a wildfire. Southern California Edison is considering shutoffs for 9,990 customers in Riverside County, south of the San Bernardino National Forest. San Diego Gas & Electric is considering shutoffs for more than 35,000 customers in communities near the mountain foothills.
The reason is the weather. Triple-digit temperatures are expected inland this weekend, with downtown Los Angeles forecast to reach 97 degrees, along with falling humidity and drying winds. The National Weather Service has extreme heat warnings and watches posted across the region from Friday through next Thursday.
SDG&E says it alerts customers 24 to 48 hours before a possible shutoff by email, text, phone call and its app. You can sign up at sdge.com/notifications, and the utility's PSPS Dashboard lets you type in your address to see whether your area is under watch. Its outage map at outage.sdge.com shows when power comes back. Edison customers can check SCE's website and outage map for their address.
If you rely on electricity for medical equipment, SDG&E points people to its Medical Baseline program and to 2-1-1 San Diego for help. Community Resource Centers may open during shutoffs, depending on the event.
A practical step for this morning: charge your phone and a backup battery, put a flashlight where you can find it in the dark, and fill a few bottles of water. If the power stays on, you have lost nothing.
Sources
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