Thousands of San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) customers are experiencing public safety power shutoffs as high winds and low humidity continue to elevate wildfire risk across Southern California.
In Lakeside, many homes were dark on Tuesday. ABC 10News spoke with one family who found a way to keep the lights on.
Tim Scott and his family are one of the few on their street with power, thanks to their solar panels equipped with battery storage. Scott says the backup system has proven invaluable: “In our house, we have a couple of medical devices."
Concerned about prolonged outages, Scott purchased a small battery generator for added security.
“This is basically a big battery,” Scott said, holding up the generator. “These battery generators or portable power stations are becoming really, really popular.”
Scott also invested in a portable phone-charging bank to stay connected during outages. “You can charge two phones off of this pretty quickly,” he added.
Across the street, a long-time resident shared his surprise at experiencing such strong Santa Ana winds this late in the season.
“It seems like it’s October or November,” he said. “I’m shocked we haven’t had a major wildfire here yet.”
While San Diego has so far avoided the devastation seen recently in Los Angeles, locals remain on edge. Many are hopeful that proactive measures, like SDG&E’s power shutoffs, will continue to protect the community from potential danger.
SDG&E has warned customers that power may remain off through Wednesday at 6 PM, depending on weather conditions. The utility encourages residents to monitor its online outage map for updateson affected neighborhoods.
