Public Safety Power Shutoffs in Washington

A Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) is a last-resort wildfire prevention measure used by electric utilities to temporarily turn off power on specific power lines in areas with elevated wildfire risk during extreme fire weather conditions. Utilities may temporarily shut off power in these areas to reduce the risk of electrical equipment accidentally starting a wildfire. Power outages happen for many reasons, including:

Routine maintenance
Storm damage
Firefighter safety

PSPS events differ from other outages because they are planned in response to weather and wildfire conditions. When possible, utilities provide advance notice to customers, emergency management agencies, and public safety partners before shutting off power.

Utilities carefully weigh the public safety benefits of a PSPS against the community impacts of a power outage before making the decision to enact a PSPS.

Besides PSPS outages, unplanned outages can increase due to operational changes to the grid (see “About reclosers” below) or firefighters working nearby. Customers may not receive a warning for every outage, so customers should be prepared for outages lasting up to three days.

Locations with elevated wildfire risk

Shutoffs are more likely to occur in areas with elevated wildfire risk, especially where vegetation is dry and weather conditions create a higher potential for fast-moving fires. Utilities may consider a PSPS during red-flag warnings or critical fire weather including extreme heat, low humidity, strong winds and very dry vegetation.

Utilities work to pre-identify power lines that may be at higher risk during these conditions. Many also partner with local communities, emergency management agencies and public safety organizations to support advance planning, preparedness exercises, and public outreach before a PSPS event occurs.

Utility providers work with emergency response agencies when critical fire weather is forecasted to prepare critical infrastructure (like water and hospitals) for a power outage, even as those forecasts are still evolving.

Customers usually receive advanced notification of an outage where possible. You may also see additional notices coming from local public safety entities like county and tribal emergency management, and police, fire or public health departments. Your utility will provide updates until power is restored.

How to prepare for an outage

There are several ways prepare for outages:

Before an outage

Register life-sustaining and medical equipment with your utility (check their website).
Have a safe backup for heating and cooling method for your home.
Prepare for natural gas and water service to be affected if equipment relies on electricity.
Put together an outage kit with flashlights, emergency contacts, and water. Here are some ideas:
- WA Dept of Health | Prepare for a Power Outage
- American Red Cross | Prepare for Outages
Use the WA Department of Ecology’s Smoke Map to stay up-to-date with outdoor air quality. The website also offers good ways to prepare for poor air quality.
Keep your phones and backup batteries charged.

During an outage

Stay informed:
- Make sure to sign up for alerts if your utility provides them. You can find more information on their website.
- Stay up-to-date with wildfire activity using your preferred method, such as Current Wildfire Incident Information | Department of Natural Resources or Watch Duty to keep an eye on fires in your area.
- Sign up for the National Weather Service Alerts to monitor for Red Flag Warnings (PDF), which can be an initial indicator that the utility is considering a PSPS event. Not all Red Flag Warnings will trigger a PSPS event, but they are one of the factors that utilities consider when determining the need for PSPS.

Watch for open Community Resource Hubs during a PSPS event. Some utilities, nonprofits and municipalities will open charging stations where you can charge medical devices or cell phones and get information about the outage. Utilities typically work with counties or tribes to identify a good place to host these hubs, so be alert to notices from your local county police, fire or emergency management officials.

During outages, hospitals and other community facilities experience a surge in people looking for heating/cooling or to charge medical equipment. Be aware of this extra demand and find alternative power sources or allow yourself more time to get help. If you’re experiencing an urgent need, reach out to your local health department, non-emergency police or fire phone number, or your local emergency management office to get connected with resources.

How utilities manage wildfire risk

Before using public safety power shutoffs, utilities first use other measures such as clearing vegetation, strengthening equipment, and adjusting recloser settings to reduce wildfire risk.

A recloser is a piece of equipment that automatically attempts to close a circuit that has been tripped, perhaps by a tree branch making contact with the lines. Many utilities have instituted recloser policies that are scalable to fire risk conditions.

The less fire risk, the more reclosing attempts are allowed. The greater the fire risk, the fewer reclosing attempts are allowed. This means that customers may experience more unexpected power outages during high fire risk conditions despite no PSPS warning.

Transmission lines are high-voltage lines that quickly pass electricity from the generation source to substations. Distribution lines (the wooden poles connecting lines) pass the electricity from the substation to neighborhood homes.

Some utilities only own generation and transmission lines and sell electricity to a “downstream” utility that distributes it to customers. Downstream utilities depend on the upstream transmission power provider. If an outage occurs on the transmission provider’s lines, the distribution provider’s customers may experience an outage. This means your utility may lose power even if the outage started somewhere else.

Transmission lines are typically built on tall metal towers that are more resistant to wildfire and vegetation-related damage. In some situations, however, power may need to be temporarily turned off or rerouted to keep firefighters and aircraft safe while responding to a wildfire. If power cannot be rerouted, some communities may experience an outage.

PSPS and other outages on transmission lines are restored very similarly to outages on distribution lines. However, there are several key considerations:

The local utility provider is responsible for notifying their customers about an outage even if the outage occurred “upstream” with the transmission provider.
Some transmission lines have backup pathways that allow utilities to reroute power and avoid an outage. If power is successfully rerouted and customers do not lose service, no outage notification will be sent.
These outages can impact many people depending on the size of the circuit being turned off. The outage could impact just one community, a large city, or even several cities.
Before restoration, the transmission company will send out crews to manually inspect the lines and equipment (and fix any damage). They coordinate closely with downstream utilities to turn on the power in a way that won’t cause any damaging power surges. This means that restoring an outage on a transmission line might take a little longer than otherwise. Just like storm-caused outages, customers should be prepared for an outage of three days.

Wildfire resources

The Energy Resilience and Emergency Management team leads the Utility Wildfire Mitigation Program and serves as the state’s expert on wildfire risks affecting electric utilities. We consult with firefighters, county and tribal safety officials, and local community members who want to prepare for power outages and support their utilities in grant opportunities or other planning and mitigation projects.