What is planned power outage and preparation tips

This article explains planned power outages and their causes. You can also find preparation tips for planned power outages at the end of the article. 

What are planned power outages?

Planned power outages are deliberate decisions made by electric utility companies to cut the power supply to residents and businesses. Most electric utility companies periodically announce planned power outages to conduct maintenance within the electricity infrastructure. These short outages could impact small groups of customers. These power outages are often nothing more than a simple inconvenience for most of us.

On the other hand, to many Californians planned power outages are not simple inconveniences anymore. Californians face the risk of losing power for hours to days due to planned power outages. 

What causes planned power outages?

Maintenance is a very common reason for planned power outages. 

Meanwhile, recent planned power outages in California are not for maintenance purposes. Instead, they aim to reduce wildfires and associated risk to lives and property. Planned power outage method got increased traction after the Camp Fire in November 2018. The Camp Fire destroyed the town of Paradise, California, and killed 85 people. Faulty transmission lines or trees hitting the power lines are likely the causes of the Camp Fire and several other wildfires.

Planned power outage near me

There could be a planned power outage near you, if you live in a state with a high risk of wildfires. The wildfires can threaten lives and property. Proximity to wildfires make residents more prone to experiencing extended planned power outages. Electric utility companies often choose to do planned power outages to avoid wildfires. Within the U.S., residents of western and southern states face a higher risk of experiencing these extended planned power outages. This is due to higher occurrences of wildfires in these states.

Let’s look which U.S. states had the highest number of wildfires over the last two decades.

• California, Nevada, Oregon and Idaho: 88 of the 200 largest wildfires in the United States over the last decades. 
• Texas: 12 of the 200 largest wildfires in the United States. 
• Washington: 10 of the 200 largest wildfires in the United States. 

Preparation tips for planned power outages

Here are the preparation tips if you live in an area prone to planned power outages.

• Sign up for updates via phone, text, email and/or social media. This will keep you aware of latest developments.
• Take an inventory of household items that rely on electricity.
• Plan for any medical needs. This includes power-dependent medical devices or medications that need to stay refrigerated.
• For peace of mind and no power interruption, consider purchasing a whole house generator. A whole house generator like the Cummins QuietConnect will automatically restore your power the moment it goes off.
• If you live in California, we also have 5 wildfire and planned power outage tips for California residents. 

If you are interested in a more detailed power outage preparation list, we have the answer too. Start now to prepare for a power outage and download the ultimate checklist.