Wildfires & Blackouts: Why Does Southern California Edison Keep Enforcing Power Outages?
Planned power outages in Southern California are becoming part of everyday life. In recent years, Edison has dramatically increased its use of Public Safety Power Shutoffs, cutting off electricity to hundreds of thousands of customers in 2025.
While the outages are intended to reduce wildfire risk during extreme weather, they can also pose serious health and safety risks themselves. This article explores why these shutoffs are happening and what homeowners can do to prepare for them.
What Are Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS)?
Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) are planned temporary power outages used by utility companies to reduce the risk of their equipment sparking and igniting wildfires during extreme hot, dry, or windy weather.
How PSPS Works in Practice
Utilities continuously monitor weather models and wildfire risk indexes. When conditions reach a critical threshold of sustained high winds or a red flag warning, power is shut off in targeted areas to reduce the risk of fire.
Once the risk has passed, crews must inspect the lines for damage, which is why the cuts can last for hours or even days in remote areas.
Investing in solar energy and battery storage systems can significantly reduce grid strain, helping prevent wildfires and blackouts. You can use a home battery like the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Ultra Plus during peak demand to reduce strain on the grid. Then, recharge it with solar panels to further reduce strain, save money, and reduce your carbon footprint.
Why Southern California Edison is Using More Power Shutoffs
Utilities in California have been using shutoffs for decades to mitigate fire risks. Now, utilities face serious legal and financial risks if their equipment causes wildfires, so they must use power outages as a risk-mitigation tool.
In 2025, Edison cut off 534,000 customers as a preventive measure to reduce wildfire risk, up from 137,000 in 2024. Why the dramatic increase?
Edison is currently facing major fines and lawsuits after their equipment sparked the catastrophic Pallisades and Eaton fires of 2025. In response, Edison lowered the threshold for wind speed that triggers a blackout, dramatically increasing the number of customers affected.
Aging Infrastructure and Fire Liability
Another major problem in California and across the U.S. is the aging electrical infrastructure. Southern California is currently undergoing a major upgrade to accommodate electrification and clean energy goals, as well as to mitigate wildfire risks by undergrounding power lines.
But upgrades take time, and extreme weather is showing no sign of slowing down.
While Edison originally promised that the billions of dollars in spending on infrastructure upgrades would reduce shutoffs, they now predict a 20-40% increase in shutoffs due to extreme weather, including below-average rainfall and high winds.
The Human Cost of Blackouts
Health and Safety Concerns
California state rules say that utilities can use outages only when the risk of equipment igniting a fire is greater than the hazards blackouts can cause.
One major concern with blackouts is the failure of traffic lights, which can lead to accidents. They also put people with medical issues at risk if they can no longer use their medical devices or refrigerators to store medications. Outages can also affect communication, preventing residents from receiving evacuation warnings or other emergency alerts.
In just three months last year, Edison received 230 reports of health and safety concerns, including traffic accidents, people failing to get medical care, and other safety issues.
Disruptions to Daily Life
Outside of safety issues, outages disrupt daily life, shutting down businesses, preventing people from traveling, working remotely, or simply going out to get groceries. It can also shut down schools, forcing parents to pick up children early when traffic lights aren’t working and the roads are more hazardous.
Don’t let your life be disrupted by inevitable outages. The EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 is a battery-powered home generator that will keep all your essential devices running. You can even set it up as an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) to protect your sensitive electronics.
Regulatory Scrutiny
Because of outages that have caused traffic accidents and medical emergencies, Edison has been under increasing scrutiny. One complaint is that the utility doesn’t always warn people about upcoming outages, making it impossible to prepare for them.
What Homeowners Can Do
When homeowners take steps to reduce strain on the grid, they can help prevent wildfires and blackouts.
Renewable Integration and Energy Storage
Virtual Power Plants
If you sign up for a virtual power plant (VPP), you will also help reduce the risk. VPPs are designed to automatically adjust your smart thermostat or draw power from your battery storage or EV during peak demand to reduce outage risks. Homeowners are compensated financially, usually with credits applied to their power bill.
Backup Power Essentials
Backup power is not optional. Even the government relations manager for Edison is urging homeowners to buy generators, saying that the utility will not reimburse customers for spoiled foods or other losses. So, to keep your home and family safe, it's critical to have your own backup power. However, you should always avoid traditional generators, as they run on fossil fuels and create additional fire and carbon monoxide poisoning risks.
Fortunately, battery-powered home generators like the EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3 are perfectly safe to use indoors, with no fossil-fuel-related fire hazards or risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. With 4000W of output, it will run virtually any household appliance, including 240V stoves and dryers.
Final Thoughts
Power shutoffs in SoCal are not going away any time soon, as the grid continues being upgraded and extreme weather shows no end in sight. For Edison, it’s all about mitigating the risk of wildfires caused by their equipment to keep communities safe and reduce the risk of fines. But the outages themselves also cause serious traffic and medical risks.
For homeowners, the best defense is preparation. Invest in resilient home generators like the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Ultra Plus, which will provide clean, reliable, indoor-safe backup power without the health or fire risks of traditional generators.
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