Will power go out in SLO County during heat wave? PG&E says safety shutoffs not likely

It’s going to be a hot one in San Luis Obispo County this week, but at least residents are not likely to lose their air conditioning due to a planned power outage.

PG&E spokesperson Suzanne Hosn told The Tribune on Monday that the utility company does not anticipate having to conduct one of its Public Safety Power Shutoffs locally during the heat wave.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen here,” Hosn said, noting that the company was keeping an eye on whether it might declare a PSPS in other areas of the state.

In an effort to help prevent fires sparked by its equipment, PG&E will sometimes turn off electricity when there is “severe weather” — like high winds or low humidity — in areas where there is already a higher risk of wildfires.

The outages are generally planned in advance, and customers within impacted areas are notified via email, phone call or text, according to PG&E’s website.

Much of San Luis Obispo County was expected to be under an excessive heat warning from Wednesday through to early next week, with temperatures in some places reaching as high as 110 degrees.

Hosn said PG&E was monitoring the weather event, which could bring “record temperatures in a lot of our service territory.”

“Just to prepare, we’ve already activated our emergency operations center due to the potential need for public safety power shutoffs, heat wave and other weather events,” she said. “But to be clear, no public safety power shutoffs have been called, no customers have been de-energized right now.”

Hosn added that customers can look up their addresses on the PG&E website to determine if their homes are within the areas being monitored for potential power shutoffs.