PSA: Are You Prepared for the Power Shutoffs?

I have a Public Service Announcement to tell you today

It is the end of August and Santa Ana season is right around the corner with those hot winds that blow from the east. I really wanted to talk to you today about the measures you can take to protect your home and family, in case you have a brownout.

Last year, SDG&E started purposefully turning off the electricity in areas where there was a high risk of fire, and so they have released a list of generators that you can purchase. They are offering a $300 rebate that you can get and redeem at Home Depot or Lowe’s. There’s a specific list of particular Home Depot and Lowe’s that you can go to, as well as the generators that are included in this offer. Take a look at the images at the end of this post for more information.

What I want you to do is make sure that you take a look at the list and find out, in your area, if you’re subject to having those power shutoffs, or if you experienced one last year. If you experienced one last year, then you are automatically eligible where if you’re considered to be in an extreme fire area, then you’re also eligible. If you live in an HOA, you want to make sure that the HOA’s okay with you putting this in. You may have to take it through some kind of art jury or some kind of advisory committee for that HOA.

In case you can’t get this in time, or for whatever reason, you don’t want to, or you’re not eligible for the discount for it, I’ve got an alternative. But before I get to that alternative, we’ll talk first about the customer CARE accounts. So if you are an SDG&E CARE account user, that means you’ve got somebody in your household that must have electricity because of, perhaps a CPAP machine, or maybe they’re on oxygen, and you can’t get this generator in time. Then I want you to make sure that you’re prepared with something else.

Last year, when that happened, I went out and got a Portable Outlet that holds a battery for months at a time. It holds eight hours’ worth of battery for a CPAP machine, so a whole night’s sleep in case we needed it. So my husband uses a CPAP, and obviously, he needs it to sleep. So I wanted to make sure that if the electricity were to go out, we had an alternative that would allow him to get a good night’s sleep until we could make other arrangements if it was going to be for more than a night or two.

So this is for a CPAP, but they make them for other appliances. You can go to portableoutlet.com. You can also go back to whatever medical device supplier you got the device from that your loved one is using and look to see who makes it and what kind of portable outlets you can get for it. So, as we get to the end of August and into September, I want you to be prepared for the coming months. I want you to stay safe and healthy. Take care.