Public Safety Power Shutoff FAQs
The Bear Valley Community Services District has seen a lot of questions from the community regarding the Public Safety Power Shutoff. We compiled the most frequently asked questions and sent them to Southern California Edison. The questions and their responses are included here.
CSD: What conditions led to yesterday’s PSPS? Many residents feel that the wind was comparable to many other windy days that didn’t have a PSPS declared.
SCE: The winds combined with locally dry vegetation increase the risk of wildfire – meaning that Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) may be needed to protect communities.
The areas in scope in Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura Counties are places that did not receive significant rain from storms last month - leading to dry vegetation and increased fire potential.
CSD: Why did it take until Wednesday morning to lift the PSPS? The wind, for the most part, died down Tuesday afternoon. Many residents reported no wind in their areas relatively early in the day and want to know why power wasn’t restored last night.
SCE: SCE has to wait for weather conditions to improve before we can begin the process to restore power to customers. Lines must be inspected for safety before we can re-energize them. We must make sure our equipment was not damaged. Inspections can take time as the entire line must be patrolled. Many inspections require daylight to inspect. Circuits in rough terrain may take longer to inspect. After shutoffs, we restore power to customers as soon as it is safe to do so after the winds pass, and after crews inspect the lines and determine it is safe to restore service. Safety is our number one priority. We know any outage is a hardship. We must make sure it is safe to restore power.
CSD: How does SCE monitor wind and weather conditions throughout the day to ensure a PSPS is still needed? What criteria does SCE use to decide whether a PSPS should be lifted?
SCE: SCE uses 1,700 weather stations in the field for real time reporting and SCE crews actively patrol circuits before and during PSPS events to provide additional information regarding actual weather conditions. In advance of any PSPS event, SCE has plans in place to reduce the number of customers affected, and potentially move some customers from affected circuits. After shutoffs, we restore power to customers as soon as it is safe to do so after the winds pass, and after crews inspect the lines and determine it is safe to restore service.
Once a circuit is cleared for inspection, restoration times are typically up to 8 hours. There could be delays if there is a need for helicopter, drone or foot patrols or if damage is found. Some circuits can only be safely inspected in daylight and that may lead to additional delays.
CSD: A resource center was opened in Stallion Springs. Why wasn’t aid brought directly to Bear Valley?
SCE: Several key factors are considered when SCE determines the locations for Community Resource Centers, such as high fire risk areas, community needs, accessibility, stakeholder feedback, logistics and safety. I will forward this inquiry to the PSPS Customer Service inbox to share the feedback.
CSD: Similar weather conditions existed in surrounding communities. Why was Bear Valley put under a PSPS while others weren’t?
SCE: Many factors are considered, such as weather conditions, fire risk, real-time field information, infrastructure, etc. SCE works to limit the scope of possible shutoffs to only the areas that are facing the highest threat of wildfire and are taking actions to keep our customers informed.