Rubaiya Karim
Thousands of residents of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara County are experiencing prolonged power outages as Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE) implement Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) to reduce wildfire risks. The outages began on Wednesday and are expected to last through Saturday. The PSPS events aim to prevent electrical equipment from sparking wildfires during windy and dry weather conditions.
Highlights
- As of Friday morning, thousands of PG&E and SCE customers in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara County remain without power.
- These shutoffs are aimed at reducing wildfire risks across the two counties.
- Power has been restored in most areas, but some residents may not see service return until late Saturday.
Public Safety Power Shutoff for Wildfire Prevention
As per PG&E’s outage map, several circuits within SLO County have been shut off. The shutoff was announced after the San Luis Obispo County Office of Emergency Services posted a countywide advisory on its official X account about four hours before the outages began.
PG&E has upgraded the PSPS Watch to a PSPS Warning. This occurs 1 to 4 hours before the de-energization of power begins. Residents affected who are signed up for alerts from PG&E should have been directly notified by them already. Or check your address: https://t.co/byfQHpSUVz pic.twitter.com/Nz0IUrL6ms
— SLO County OES (@slocountyoes) June 19, 2025
This initiative to shut down power is a part of PG&E’s wildfire safety program. As per the program, the electricity is cut in areas where the weather forecast signals extreme fire danger. These outages are expected to last between 24 to 48 hours. Electrical crews will be conducting safety inspections prior to re-energization.
In addition to SLO County, parts of Northern Santa Barbara that receive their electricity supply from PG&E are also experiencing power outages. Other parts of SB County, that receive their power from Southern California Edison, also underwent electrical outages since June 16, 2025. However, as of Wednesday noon, these outages were all reversed back to warnings.
As per SCE, thousands of households in Santa Barbara have been affected by the PSPS alerts. On Thursday, the NWS issued warnings for the area, citing strong winds and dry vegetation that increase the likelihood of a wildfire starting and spreading. Complete restoration of power will likely take place by Friday, June 20, or Saturday, June 21 once weather conditions are deemed safe.
Residents are encouraged to remain informed through announcements on the SCE and PG&E’s official website or follow the official social media handles and websites of the Office of Emergency Services in both counties.
Related Articles
UPDATE: SoCal Edison Places Parts of Santa Barbara’s South Coast Under Power Warning
The innovation of the Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS or CYAPS) is a testament to the failure of power companies (SCE, PGE, etc…) to maintain their infrastructure.
Only since the recent billion dollar lawsuits holding them accountable did the CYAPS start.
Electrical power distribution industries have historically been able to deny financial responsibility of their substandard infrastructure that has caused 100’s of billions of dollars of fire damage, all while profiting 100’s of billions of dollars.
Their PR Departments flood our inboxes with disingenuous notes about how concerned they are about our safety and well-being, but don’t mention why they haven’t maintained their infrastructure that in the last century (SCE 139 years old – PG&E 120 years old) that has destroyed billions of dollars of homes and numerous lives.
There is no other public utility that is a “fair weather” provider – not natural gas, not cable, not water, not internet, not gasoline, television, telephone, U. S. mail, email, your local trash guy, the guy that walks your dog, or any other provider that ceases service because it gets hot or windy.
If it is possible to walk on the moon and fly to Mars, it should be possible to run wires to houses safely on Earth.
This can not be the new normal! Our public representatives from all jurisdictions and districts must respond to this further degradation in electrical service causing harm to millions of people.
If the current electrical providers are not willing or capable of providing reliable service, the monopoly should be given to another entity.
“Complete restoration of power will likely take place by Friday, June 20, or Saturday, June 21 once weather conditions are deemed safe.”
But Red Flag Warning runs “until 5:00 a.m. Sunday”
And “NWS has also issued a wind hazard event beginning Friday through Saturday evening throughout most of the Central Coast. Damaging wind gusts up to 65 mph have expanded across the area with peak timing for most areas likely to be Sunday afternoon/evening.”
Make it make sense, please…
If we all just got soar and wind and bateries there would be no grid.
There would be micro grids, since you have to distribute the power.
That would all be a much more robust system, and ultimately less expensive.
What’s the possibility of all grids going down?
Possible, if a large coronal mass ejection event occurs. But that would also take out most of the things that use electricity, anyway.