It’s officially summer. Brace yourself for some hot temperatures in the next days and weeks.
And you might need to prepare for times with no power, too.
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WATCH HERESouthern California Edison is already forecasting possible power shutoffs called Public Safety Power Shutoff hat could be more frequent and last longer.
"PSPS stands for Public Safety Power Shutoff, and it's a program that we use where we will preemptively de-energize a circuit that's feeding a customer, so power, in order to protect against the risk of wildfire associated with dangerous conditions that are impacting our communitie, “ Thomas Brady, principal manager with Edision, told NBC Los Angeles.
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SIGN UP He said his team is seeing extreme conditions like the 100-mph winds during the Palisades and Eaton Fires as well as fuels across Los Angeles County as dry as they have been since the 1890’s, creating increased potential for large wildfires.
“We're looking at things like strong winds, dry fuels, low humidity nd all what we call the fire potential index, which is a proxy for how receptive the fuels are to ignition and spread. And that's forecasted by your own meteorologists and other experts here,” Brady said.
Inside SCE Emergency Operations Center, they track wind speeds, using in part, more than 1,800 weather stations across Southern California.
“The reason you need so many is because we only wanted to energize the smallest portion of the circuit possible so that we can help to minimize those customer impacts,” he said.
"We will attempt to notify our customers up to three days ahead of the anticipated event and that's so that they can begin preparing,” he added.
Being prepared for long periods without power is essential – from having a first-aid kit and working flashlights to knowing how to open your automatic garage door when the power is out.
And remember it takes time to get power back “online.”
"So in order for us to restore the circuit, what's been de-energized, we have to wait for those dangerous conditions to abate. Once we start to see those wind speeds settle off and the humidity to increase and the fire potential index values to start to level off, that's the time when we're going to send out our qualified electrical workers to conduct a restoration patrol to make sure that that circuit is safe to re-energize,” Brady said.
SCE, which serves an estimated 15 million customers within Central, Coastal and Southern California, said it will send crews on the ground to communities that have their power shut off to help support neighbors.
The utility also has rebates for generators and battery supplies as well as some free offers for those with certain medical needs. See here for more information on those resources.
