Business, Cultural, Education, Events, Family, Government, Health, Local, News

Santa Barbara County First District Supervisor Das Williams

by Community Contributor • October 10, 2023 • Comments Off

Potential Public Safety Power Shutoff in Parts of Santa Barbara and Montecito as early as Wednesday, Oct. 11

Map of areas in Santa Barbara and Montecito under Public Safety Power Shutoff consideration by SCE.

I want to provide an update to you on the potential Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) event under consideration by Southern California Edison that may begin as soon as Wednesday, October 11.

This event is due to predicted high winds and the increased risk of wildfires in parts of the South Coast. This outage may begin as soon as 10/11/2023, though it may occur earlier or later depending on actual weather conditions. If you live or work in or near this area, you should make preparations for a possible multiple-day power outage.

The current potential PSPS power shutoffs include some areas of Montecito and Santa Barbara. To find out if you may be affected, you can input your address on SCE’s map tool here.

Resources during PSPS

I’ve been advised that there will be one SCE Community Crew Vehicle in our general area, at the Franklin Center, located at 1136 E Montecito St Wednesday, October 11th from 2pm-10pm to assist customers. These vehicles are equipped with backup power for your charging needs. SCE representatives will be on-site to answer questions.

Residents with medical equipment that is dependent on power:

Register for SCE’s medical baseline program in order to receive additional coordination and information during PSPS events. More info: https://www.sce.com/residential/assistance/medical-baseline
Residents in a high fire risk area AND enrolled in the Medical Baseline program, can request to receive backup battery equipment through the SCE Critical Care Battery Program. Residents can get more information on this program from 2-1-1 or at https://www.sce.com/outage-center/customer-resources-and-support/critical-care-backup-battery-program

SCE main customer support number: 1-800-655-4555

Regardless of where you live or work in SCE’s service area, I want to be sure you know about these three tools on their website that will help you stay in the know in the quickest way possible:

A tool that allows easy lookup of any address you enter for current consideration or shutoff status
Options to sign up for SCE’s text or voice alerts by zip code
A map of circuit areas under consideration or otherwise affected

Please make sure you and those you love are signed up for emergency alerts at www.readysbc.org. Only 14% of all County Residents are currently signed up to receive these potentially lifesaving alerts.