Blackout guide

PSPS power shutoffs: what to do before, during, and after

Updated October 2026 · 6-minute read

A PSPS — Public Safety Power Shutoff — is a planned outage. The utility turns power off on purpose, before high winds can turn a power line into a wildfire ignition. That makes it different from a storm blackout: you usually get warning, the outage can last longer than the wind, and the fix is an inspection, not just flipping a switch back on.

Timely context: during the Santa Ana event of October 14–17, 2026, Southern California Edison said up to about 245,700 customers across Southern California were under consideration for shutoffs, including nearly 125,000 in Ventura County and nearly 90 monitored circuits there, per Reuters and Ventura County Star reporting. "Under consideration" is not the same as "shut off" — SCE decides on real-time conditions. Always check SCE's own PSPS map for your address; news lists of towns are not the definitive check.

What a PSPS actually is

When forecast winds, low humidity, and dry vegetation line up, a utility may de-energize circuits in high-fire-risk areas. The goal is prevention: no energized line, no line-caused ignition. The tradeoff is that homes, medical devices, wells, and cell towers on those circuits lose power even if nothing is damaged.

Two things that surprise people:

• Your neighbors may keep power while you lose it. Shutoffs follow circuits, not town borders. One side of a road can be off and the other on.
• The outage can outlast the wind. Crews must inspect lines and equipment before re-energizing. SCE has said that inspection typically takes up to about eight hours, but can take longer if damage is found or more inspections are needed.

How a PSPS unfolds

1. Monitoring / consideration: your circuit is on a watch list. No outage yet. Charge everything now — this is the useful window.
2. De-energization: power goes off, often with a notification. Treat it as "off until inspected," not "off for an hour."
3. Inspection: crews patrol the de-energized lines. You cannot speed this up by calling.
4. Restoration: power returns circuit by circuit once lines are cleared.

Sign up for your utility's PSPS and outage alerts (SCE customers can do this on SCE's site) and keep a battery-powered or hand-crank radio for updates if cell service thins out. See our emergency radio guide.

Before: charge in the right order

When a shutoff is under consideration, charge in this order — the things you cannot replace once the power is out come first:

1. Power station itself — top it up from the wall while you still can. A half-charged station is the most common PSPS regret.
2. Phones, power banks, laptops — your communication and information.
3. Medical devices — CPAP batteries, nebulizers, powered wheelchairs. If anyone in the home uses electrically powered medical equipment, ask your utility about its Medical Baseline program before fire season, not during it.
4. Rechargeable lights, lanterns, and radios — see our lantern guide.

Set your fridge and freezer to their coldest setting before the shutoff, then keep the doors closed during it. A full freezer holds temperature far longer than a half-empty one — freeze water bottles ahead of time to fill dead space.

During: what to run first

Run essentials only, in this priority order. Everything else waits:

• Medical devices — CPAP and anything health-critical. See power stations for CPAP.
• Fridge (in bursts) — run it a few hours at a time, then let it coast with the door closed. See power stations for refrigerators.
• Phones + Wi-Fi — a router and modem draw very little; keeping them up keeps alerts, maps, and messaging working. See keeping Wi-Fi running.
• Lights — one room, LED only. Skip anything that heats (space heaters, hair dryers, kettles) — they drain a station in under an hour.

What size station covers a shutoff?

Use our sizing calculator for your exact loads. As a rough guide for a PSPS:

Sizes are rules of thumb, not lab-tested runtimes. Fridge draw varies by model, age, and how often the door opens — our refrigerator guide has the per-model math.

Why solar helps in a PSPS

PSPS events happen on sunny, windy days — which is exactly when portable solar panels work best. A panel or two won't run your house, but it refills the station during the day so you can spend the energy at night. The honest math: expect roughly 70–80% of a panel's rated watts in good sun. Full detail in solar generators for blackouts and solar panels for power stations.

One caution: panels are light and catch wind. Secure them, and don't leave them connected in a lightning storm.

What not to do

• Never backfeed. Don't plug a power station (or generator) into a wall outlet to energize your home's wiring. Extension cords to individual devices only — backfeeding is dangerous and illegal in most places.
• Never run a gas generator indoors, in a garage, or near windows. Carbon monoxide kills quietly. If you use gas, it lives outside, far from the house. See power station vs. gas generator.
• Don't run a station in a sealed box or under a blanket. It needs ventilation while charging and discharging.
• Don't assume the outage is over because the wind died down. Wait for the utility's all-clear — restoration follows inspection, not the forecast.

After power returns

• Check fridge/freezer temperatures before eating anything perishable. When in doubt, throw it out.
• Recharge the station right away — PSPS events can come in clusters during one wind event.
• Reset clocks, check that medical devices are back on wall power, and restock anything you used (water, batteries, ice).
• Write down what ran out first. That list is your shopping list for next time — usually it's more solar, not a bigger battery.

Where to look

If this shutoff convinced you to buy, start with the size you actually need, not the biggest box:

Best under $1,000 → Sizing calculator → Check current price — BLUETTI Check price on Amazon — power stations

BLUETTI link is Eddie's direct Impact affiliate link; Amazon link uses tracking ID blackoutbacku-20. Prices change constantly; always confirm at checkout.

Related guide: Best battery CO detectors for generator safety — if you're running a generator during a shutoff, a CO alarm is non-negotiable.

Related guide: Best Portable Power Stations for Winter Storms: Multi-Day Outage Picks — multi-day outage picks plus the 3-day outage plan.