During the holidays we understand potential disruptions to the power grid create significant frustration for our residents. Southern California Edison is required to initiate Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) events to mitigate the risk of wildfire. While SCE makes the sole determination to issue a PSPS, the City of Beaumont coordinates with Southern California Edison, to assist in communicating what SCE is doing for it’s customers, what a PSPS means, as well as where to look for information to assist you during a shutoff.
Due to California’s history of dangerous and deadly wildfires SCE is required to utilize PSPS events to mitigate the risk of wildfire. SCE does not shut off power based only on weather forecasts, but instead considers various factors and conditions before determining a PSPS is necessary. Part of the procedure for PSPS includes having in house meteorologists monitoring weather conditions, having crews on the ground checking equipment and constantly evaluating circuits. Every attempt is made to reduce the number of customers affected, the length of the outage and to restore power as soon as it is safe to do so.
Due to the potential of strong Santa Ana winds forecast for our area Wednesday (11/24)-Friday (11/26) over 98,000 customers in multiple Southern California counties are under consideration for a potential Public Safety Power Shutoff. The City of Beaumont is surrounded by wildland and being in a mountain pass it is especially susceptible to wildfire. While PSPS events are inconvenient they do help to protect the area from preventable wildfire risk.
Be Prepared
SCE and the City of Beaumont want you to be prepared for a PSPS. SCE Customers can sign up for alerts by calling (800) 655-4555 or by visiting https://www.sce.com/safety/wildfire/psps/psps-alerts.