Due to elevated fire weather conditions and forecasted Santa Ana winds, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has notified 24,700 customers in the backcountry that it may have to turn off power to reduce wildfire risk as early as Wednesday morning. Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) are approved by state regulators as an important safety tool of last resort to mitigate fire risk during dangerous weather conditions. 

The National Weather Service issued Red Flag Warnings for inland and coastal Orange County and San Diego County valleys and mountains through Friday morning. Moderate strength Santa Ana winds are expected to arrive Tuesday night and last until Thursday evening.  

Because the potential PSPS is not expected to occur until Wednesday at the earliest, there are no anticipated impacts to polling or ballot counting locations for today’s election.    

SDG&E began notifying customers who are most at risk of a PSPS on Monday via phone, text messages and email. Customers who were notified should be prepared to be without power through Friday. Crews will work to restore power as quickly as safety allows.  

SDG&E has activated its Emergency Operations Center to monitor conditions 24/7 and has personnel and pre-staged materials and equipment ready for response. SDG&E will notify customers if Community Resource Centers (CRC) will be activated for impacted areas. The company also advised that personal emergency plans to keep their family, pets and livestock safe should be utilized.  

As with any wind event, SDG&E encourages customers to be prepared for unplanned power outages. Customers should never approach a downed line and report it by calling 911 or SGD&E’s call center at 800-411-7343. Real-time information about unplanned power outages can be found at sdge.com/outage.  

For ongoing updates about PSPS, please visit SDGEtoday.com or follow SDG&E’s X channel, @SDGE.  

Communities potentially at risk for PSPS: Alpine, Campo Reservation, Capitan Grande Reservation, Chula Vista, Cuyapaipe Reservation, El Cajon, Escondido, Jacumba, Julian, La Jolla Reservation, La Posta Reservation, Lakeside, Los Coyotes Reservation, Manzanita Reservation, Mesa Grande Reservation, Pala Reservation, Palomar Mountain, Pauma and Yuima Reservation, Pauma Valley, Ramona, Rincon Reservation, Santa Ysabel, Santa Ysabel Reservation, Santee, Sycuan Reservation, Valley Center, Warner Springs.