SDG&E has warned that a public safety power shutoff could affect more than 35,000 customers across San Diego County, but the warning does not mean an outage is confirmed. If implemented, the shutoffs could begin as early as 5 a.m. Friday and continue through 6 p.m. Monday. The utility says the measure is intended to reduce wildfire risk from equipment during strong Santa Ana winds, as inland temperatures are expected to climb past 100 degrees.
NBC 7 San Diego reported that SDG&E notified customers that 35,006 could be affected in Alpine, Boulevard, Campo, Descanso, El Cajon, Fallbrook, Jamul, Julian, Lakeside, Pala, Pauma Valley, Pine Valley, Poway, Ramona, Ranchita, Santa Ysabel, Valley Center, and Warner Springs. The potential footprint also includes the Barona, Campo, Cuyapaipe, Jamul Indian Village, La Jolla, La Posta, Los Coyotes, Manzanita, Mesa Grande, and Pala reservations. SDG&E said it is monitoring prolonged extreme heat, rising energy demand, and elevated wildfire risk, with conditions expected to begin Friday and continue into next week.
A Heat Wave Unlike Recent Ones
The timing could hardly be worse. The National Weather Service San Diego office issued an Extreme Heat Warning effective October 2 through October 8, forecasting temperatures 10 to 20 degrees above normal and inland highs reaching 95 to 108 degrees, according to the Los Angeles Times. Forecasters also warned that overnight lows are expected to stay in the lower to mid-70s, a pattern that prevents homes and bodies from cooling down between scorching days, as Rolling Out reported — a detail that raises the stakes considerably for anyone who loses air conditioning overnight.
NBC 7 reported that Victoria Bradley, owner of Ramona Family Naturals Market in Ramona’s Old Town corridor, lost about $25,000 in frozen goods during a shutoff last year. Bradley recalled that much of the refrigerated inventory had to be discarded.
Small Businesses Scramble to Prepare
Bradley told NBC 7 she now rents a generator and a truck when a shutoff is threatened, trying to keep frozen inventory from spoiling. But she said storing goods in the truck prevents customers from buying them: “It's a nightmare.” Bradley also told the outlet she received a warning letter even though SDG&E’s app showed her business address would not be affected, leaving her uncertain whether businesses might be exempt.
SDG&E has said it is monitoring conditions around the clock and has positioned crews and resources across the region, framing its approach as focused on keeping communities safe, informed, and prepared. The utility notified customers in high fire-risk areas who could be affected and urged them to prepare for both potential outages and extreme temperatures.
Cool Zones Sit Inside the Shutoff Footprint
The County of San Diego operates more than 80 designated Cool Zones — including 33 county branch libraries — through October 31 to provide free air-conditioned shelter, with select sites extending hours until 8 p.m. over the October 2–3 weekend. But county officials have cautioned that several of those same facilities, including the Santa Ysabel Nature Center, Valley Center Community Hall, and library branches in Descanso, Pine Valley, and Valley Center, sit inside SDG&E's potential shutoff zones, and have advised residents to call ahead before relying on them.
For residents who qualify, SDG&E's 2026 Generator Assistance Program offers rebates ranging from $150 to $525 for portable power stations and $300 for CARB-compliant fuel generators to Medical Baseline or Access and Functional Needs customers in high fire-threat districts who have experienced a prior shutoff. Separately, low-income older adults and people with disabilities who cannot travel to a cooling center can request a free electric fan delivered to their home through the county's Health and Human Services Agency by calling the 2-1-1 helpline, a program detailed by CBS 8.
Why SDG&E Cuts Power at All
In October 2007, the Witch Creek Fire near Santa Ysabel was sparked when SDG&E power lines contacted each other during strong Santa Ana winds, destroying more than 1,700 structures and forcing over 500,000 residents to evacuate, according to a City of San Diego report. After the 2007 fires, SDG&E proposed a shutoff plan. The California Public Utilities Commission addressed SDG&E’s proposed shutoff plan in a 2009 decision.
SDG&E has notified customers about 48 and 24 hours ahead and a few hours before a shutoff. This week's threatened shutoff follows a string of recent grid troubles in the same stretch of the county: an August blackout left over 4,700 customers dark across mountain and inland communities from Jamul to Pauma Valley, underscoring how often these rural areas bear the brunt of both planned and unplanned outages.
SDG&E’s December 9–11, 2024, post-event report says the event affected eastern areas of its San Diego and Orange County service territory and de-energized 51,922 unique customers. For comparison, CNBC reported that PG&E’s separate planned October 2019 shutoffs in Northern California could leave as many as 2.7 million people without electricity—a different utility and region.
