National Preparedness Month: As Wildfire Season Peaks, PG&E Continues Mitigation and Safety Work to Keep Customers Safe During Seasonally Windy Months

By Melissa Subbotin

September is National Preparedness Month, and it coincides with the middle of California’s peak wildfire season, which begins in the summer and extends through late fall. This year is no exception. Due to a historically hot summer, with June-August setting a 130-year temperature record for California, and continued hot and dry conditions in September, there will be an increased risk for severe wildfire until wet weather returns.

PG&E operates a robust, year-round, multi-layered wildfire mitigation program to prevent catastrophic wildfires, including additional enhancements to address this year’s increased wildfire conditions. In addition to PG&E’s aggressive wildfire mitigation work, Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) may be necessary this fall to protect the safety of PG&E customers and hometowns.

When it comes to being prepared, PSPS has historically been most prevalent in the fall months. When windy conditions are combined with high levels of dry vegetation and low humidity levels, trees, branches and debris have the potential to make contact with energized electrical equipment. When high wind speeds are forecasted in areas of high wildfire risk, PG&E may need to turn off power proactively for safety. This is known as a PSPS.

PG&E is sharing tips to help ensure customers are prepared at home, work, or on the road for a wildfire or other natural disaster.

PG&E’s Safety Action Center (safetyactioncenter.pge.com) provides customers with preparedness resources and includes information about how customers can keep their families, homes and businesses safe during wildfire season and in the event a PSPS is necessary.

“PG&E will not take any chances with customer safety,” said Mark Quinlan, senior vice president of Wildfire, Emergency & Operations. “We have conducted extensive work to mitigate wildfire risk and address this year’s increased number of wildfires in California. As a measure of last resort, PSPS events may be necessary to keep our customers safe.”

California’s 2024 wildfire season has been much more severe than 2023. As of Sept. 25, Cal Fire reports 6,378 wildfires and 995,974 acres burned this year compared to 5,180 fires and 255,697 acres burned at this time last year. 

Providing customer resources before, during and after PSPS outages

PG&E is doing more to help customers and communities before, during and after PSPS outages.

“We know that losing power disrupts lives, especially for those who rely on power for medical devices or medications. That is why we are listening to our customers and finding ways to reduce the impact of PSPS outages, without compromising safety,” said Vincent Davis, senior vice president of Customer Experience.

To reduce the impact of PSPS outages, we are:

• Partnering with community-based organizations (CBOs) to provide portable batteries and hotel stays to a variety of populations, including low-income, older adults, individuals with disabilities or those who rely on power for certain medical needs.
• Providing thousands of batteries (approximately 4,715 provided in 2023), covering all interested income-qualified Medical Baseline customers in high fire-threat areas.
• Opening Community Resource Center (CRC) locations and improving resources available during PSPS events
• Offering an option for non-account holders to receive a direct notification in advance of and during a PSPS for any addresses of interest.
• Sharing emergency information in 16 languages and partnering with CBOs to conduct multilingual outreach.
• Encouraging customers to self-certify as Vulnerable for additional notifications.

Customer notifications

To make sure customers have the information they need to plan for a PSPS, we send notifications by automated calls, texts and emails. These notifications let customers know when power will be turned off and back on. Our goal, whenever the forecast will allow, is to send customers notifications one to two days ahead, one day ahead, just before shutting off power, once power is turned off and daily until power is restored.

To serve those who are Deaf or hard of hearing, we also pre-record general notification messaging in American Sign Language. We also provide additional outreach for those who rely on power the most. If a Medical Baseline or Self-Identified Vulnerable customer does not respond to PSPS notifications, we’ll notify them in person of the potential upcoming outage.

Address Alerts

To help the community stay safe and informed about PSPS outages, we’ve created Address Alerts. PG&E sends automatic PSPS notifications for a customer’s home or business that is registered under their account. Address Alerts additionally notify anyone about a potential PSPS at any address that’s important to them or a loved one.

Address Alerts are a useful tool for those who want to know about a PSPS at their home, work, school or other important location. These Address Alerts also benefit tenants who do not have a PG&E account, those who need to stay informed about a PSPS affecting a friend or loved one and multi-member households.

Anyone can sign up by visiting pge.com/addressalerts.

Community Resource Centers

During a PSPS, we open CRCs where community members can access a safe location to meet their basic power needs, such as charging medical equipment and electronic devices. Water, snacks, blankets, ADA-accessible restrooms and other essential items to reduce hardships for our customers are available.

Batteries 

We have resources available to help our customers prepare for power outages and stay safe, including:

• The Generator and Battery Rebate Program for financial assistance in the purchase of a qualifying generator or battery.
• The Portable Battery Program, which provides backup batteries for qualified customers who rely on medical devices.

PG&E has additional support for those with medical and independent living needs

To assist customers with medical and independent living needs before, during and after a PSPS, we partner with community-based organizations (CBOs). Our efforts include:

• Partnering with the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers (CFILC) to offer support through the Disability Disaster Access and Resources Program (DDAR) Program.
• Expanding the availability of materials in American Sign Language (ASL) and providing customers the option to call 1-800-743-5000 to receive communications in Braille, large print and audio.
• Providing emergency information in 16 languages.
• Collaborating with organizations to provide ADA-accessible transportation to and from Community Resource Centers (CRCs).
• Partnering with Meals on Wheels and local food banks to help customers access food during a PSPS.
• Offering hotel rooms and hotel discounts to customers experiencing a PSPS.
• Establishing both a Regional and State level advisory group to help create solutions for emergency preparedness and resilience for customers with medical needs.
• County-specific information and support is available at com/ddar.

PG&E’s Medical Baseline Program is an assistance program for residential customers who depend on power for certain medical needs. The program includes an additional monthly allotment of energy or a discount, depending on the customer’s rate, and additional PSPS notifications.

Customers who rely on our service for certain medical needs but are not eligible for the Medical Baseline Program can self-certify for Vulnerable Customer Status. Support may include: extra notifications before a PSPS, doorbell rings or a doorhanger if the customer does not respond to previous PSPS notifications, a notice or visit before or at the time-of-service disconnection due to nonpayment.

Learn more about these resources at pge.com/pspsresources

Disability Disaster Access and Resources

PG&E partners with the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers through the Disability Disaster Access and Resources (DDAR) program to provide support to older adults, people with disabilities and chronic medical conditions who require electricity to live independently. This support is available before, during and after a PSPS and other wildfire safety power outages and emergencies. The DDAR Program may assist with signing up for the Medical Baseline Program. obtaining ADA-accessible car rides and hotel stays during a PSPS and receiving food replacement during a PSPS.

For program application instructions, customers can visit disabilitydisasteraccess.org or learn more at pge.com/ddar.

211

PG&E partners with the California 211 Providers Network to support, prepare and keep our customers safe. 211 is a free and confidential service that helps people find local resources, like lodging, ADA- accessible transportation, utility assistance and more. Customers can reach out to get help preparing for a potential power outage, or any other kind of emergency.

This resource is available 24/7 in more than 150 languages. While 211 provides proactive outreach to all PG&E customers, it serves as the first point of contact for those with Access and Functional Needs (AFN) before, during and after a PSPS.

To learn more, customers can dial 211, text ‘Prepare’ to 211-211 or visit 211.org to find their local 211.