IMPORTANT

Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings

A tool to keep you safe

Find out if your home or business is served by an Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings (EPSS)-capable line.

emergency alert  If you smell natural gas or suspect an emergency, leave the area now and call 9-1-1. 

emergency alert  If you see downed powerlines, stay away. Don’t exit your car or home. Call 9-1-1. Then call PG&E at 1-800-743-5000.

How EPSS works

To help keep our communities in and around high fire-risk areas safe, we have enhanced safety settings on our powerlines. They are known as Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings, or EPSS.

 

These settings detect hazards on the powerline and shut off power quickly to prevent an ignition. By preventing ignitions, we can stop wildfires before they have a chance to start.

EPSS reduces wildfire risk. In 2024, there was a 65 percent reduction in ignitions on EPSS-enabled powerlines.*

*Based on an evaluation of the effectiveness of EPSS under conditions of elevated likelihood of destructive fire outcomes (R3 Fire Potential Index rating), compared to the 2018-2020 average prior to the establishment of EPSS.

How we test advanced safety settings

Find out how we're working to solve tomorrow's problems before they happen.

Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings

Learn about the advanced safety settings in high fire-risk and surrounding areas.

By stopping ignitions, we help prevent wildfires from starting and spreading.

What to expect

These safety settings will be enabled when there is an increased wildfire risk.

 

This is most likely from May to November, but wildfire risk can exist year-round in some areas.

 

We review how our safety settings perform daily. We will disable safety settings if weather conditions don't meet the need for EPSS and it is safe to do so. This helps to prevent unnecessary outages.

 

EPSS helps keep you safer, but you may experience unplanned power outages. Many things can cause an unplanned outage. This includes hazards like a tree branch or animal contacting a powerline. Hazards could cause an outage on any powerline, including those without EPSS. Powerlines with EPSS help prevent wildfires by turning off power quickly.

 

We do not expect these settings to impact customer bills.

Customer support

We're working hard to provide our customers and communities support and reduce the impact of outages. We have resources and tools available to help you.

Portable Battery Program

Find out if you qualify for a portable battery. 

Generator and Battery Rebate Program

Get a backup power rebate. 

Backup Power Transfer Meter Program

Connect a generator to your house through this free offer. 

Outage notifications

Ensure you get outage alerts. 

Our commitment to your safety

Other safety efforts include:

If you're served by powerlines with EPSS, you may experience unplanned outages. We notify you when there is an outage and send updates until the power is back on.

 

If a powerline is on your property, we may need access to restore power. Please allow our crew members patrol access. The sooner our crew can patrol, the earlier power can be restored.

 

Outages that result from enhanced safety settings are not Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS). PSPS outages are a last resort used to keep you safe. You will be notified before a PSPS takes place.

 

Update your contact information to stay informed

Get resources to help prepare

We're reducing the impact of losing power by:

  • Providing backup power support for qualifying customers
  • Alerting you when an outage has happened and when you can expect power back
  • Using ground and air patrols for quicker restoration
  • Installing equipment to decrease the length of outages

We're improving the electric system for safety and to keep your power on. No matter the season, it's important to stay safe and prepared for outages.

Report non-emergency safety concerns through our mobile app.

Outage preparedness guides

Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings Fact Sheet

How we're adjusting the settings on equipment to quickly turn off power if the system detects a problem.

Filename
epss-fact-sheet.pdf
Size
155 KB
Format
application/pdf
Download

Non-residential outage preparedness guide

Safety information for business and property owners.

Filename
outage-preparedness-guide-nonresidential.pdf
Size
887 KB
Format
application/pdf
Download

Residential outage preparedness guide

Information to keep you and your community safe.

Filename
outage-preparedness-guide-residential.pdf
Size
885 KB
Format
application/pdf
Download

More information on outages and safety

Safety

At PG&E, nothing is more important than safety.

Outage preparedness and support

Stay prepared for power outages and get support.

Community Wildfire Safety Program (CWSP)

Find out how we are making our system safer and more reliable.