By james art 
Photo bySCE
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY – Southern California Edison (SCE) is considering a Public Safety Power Outage (PSPS) for over 63,000 San Bernardino County customers, effective November 4th.
SCE says the temporary shutdown of power to neighborhoods during hazardous weather is intended to prevent their electrical system from becoming a source of ignition.
The National Weather Service issued a red flag – a fire weather warning for parts of the San Bernardino County Mountains and Inland Empire that will remain in effect until 6:00 PM tonight.
A Red Flag Warning is also in effect from early Wednesday through Thursday evening for parts of the San Bernardino Mountains, Inland Empire, Santa Ana Mountains and inland Orange County for strong gusty winds and low relative humidity for the San Bernardino Mountains and Inland Empire.
Photo bySCE
SCE says they consider PSPS when high winds, very dry plants and grass, and low humidity are forecast.
“We intend to notify affected customers approximately two days in advance of a potential power outage,” says a statement on the SCE website.
Install surge protectors to protect electronics
SCE says each of California’s investor-owned utilities determines when PSPS will be invoked and how it will be implemented.
They said they base PSPS decisions on data collected by fire scientists and meteorologists predicting dangerous wildfires and on real-time information from their field teams.
“A PSPS event will continue as long as dangerous fire weather conditions persist. As the weather improves, we will check our lines for damage before restoring power. This usually takes up to eight hours, but may take longer if we need daylight for safety inspections,” said a statement on the SCE website.
Photo bySCE
SCE recommends that in the case of PSPS, important phone numbers are kept close to the main home phone.
Also, install surge protectors to protect valuable electronics like computers and home entertainment systems. When power is restored after an outage, there can be a significant voltage spike that can damage sensitive electronics.
SCE customers can view the outage map to check the status of power outages in their area by visiting https://www.sce.com/outage-center/check-outage-status
For more information on PSPS visit