Wildfire-related Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) can begin with little notice and last 24-48 hours.
California is unusual because utilities can cut power on purpose during wildfire conditions, so outage planning here must account for both forced shutoffs and weaker solar recharge under smoke.
Wildfire and PSPS Preparedness
California is the only state where utilities intentionally cut power to prevent wildfires. Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric all operate Public Safety Power Shutoff programs under CPUC oversight. During the 2019 wildfire season alone, PG&E de-energized circuits affecting over 2 million customer accounts across dozens of counties. A single October 2019 PSPS event left roughly 941,000 PG&E customers without power for an average of 55 hours.
These shutoffs can arrive with limited advance notice and target Tier 2 and Tier 3 fire-threat zones, which span much of the Wildland-Urban Interface. PSPS events also coincide with peak wildfire smoke season. NREL research found that heavy smoke days can reduce solar panel output by 10% to 30% across the state.
For backup sizing, this creates a compounding problem: the grid goes down precisely when solar recharge capacity drops. Evacuation kits should prioritize portability and self-contained runtime over raw capacity.
Federal disaster declaration for wildfire that destroyed the town of Paradise and forced mass evacuations in Butte County.
Source: FEMA DR-4407Federal disaster declaration for wildfire spanning multiple counties in Northern California.
Source: FEMA DR-4610Evidence trail
These notes trace the editorial claims above back to FEMA, DOE, utility, or other cited records.
FEMA declaration count (151) from OpenFEMA API, deduplicated by disaster number, DR/EM/FM types, 2014-2023.
NRI composite score (98.8) from FEMA NRI county layer, population-weighted to state level.
Camp Fire DR-4407 and Dixie Fire DR-4610 from FEMA disaster declaration records.
PSPS (Public Safety Power Shutoff) frequency referenced from California utility reports; not a FEMA declaration type.
PSPS customer impact (2M accounts, 2019): CPUC Safety and Enforcement Division, Public Report on the Late 2019 PSPS Events (2020-04).
October 2019 PSPS duration (941K customers, 55h avg): PG&E ESRB-8 Post-Event Report, October 26 & 29 2019 PSPS, Amended (2020-02).
Wildfire smoke solar impact (10-30% reduction): NREL Technical Report TP-5D00-86640, Impact of Wildfires on Solar Resource Availability (2023-09).
Structured FEMA NRI, HHS emPOWER, NOAA Storm Events, and EIA methodology is documented separately on the methodology page.
NRI score of 98.8 reflects very high composite modeled hazard exposure; Earthquake ranks as top modeled hazard while Fire drives 124 of 151 FEMA declarations.
NOAA storm-event records filtered to outage-relevant event types for California. Counts reflect historical storm-event assignments, not confirmed utility outages.
Analysis window
2005-01 to 2024-12
Included storm-event records
17,302
Source as of
2026-03
Included exact NOAA event types for California: Thunderstorm Wind, Tornado, High Wind, Strong Wind, Flash Flood, Flood, Winter Storm, Ice Storm, Freezing Rain, Heavy Snow, Blizzard, Tropical Storm, Tropical Depression, Hurricane (Typhoon).
In this filtered NOAA record set for California, Jan has the highest monthly count (3,770 records) , and High Wind is the leading event type. This chart shows frequency in NOAA records, not how severe a specific outage may be.
1,622 events were not mapped to a county ranking.
24 events were not mapped to a county ranking.
388 events were not mapped to a county ranking.
676 events were not mapped to a county ranking.
347 events were not mapped to a county ranking.
53.4% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
36.7% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
42.0% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
4.6% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
3.9% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
44.3% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
Forecast-zone events in California are assigned to counties using the current NWS county crosswalk. Many mapped forecast zones expand across multiple counties, especially in mountain and interior forecast areas; unresolved legacy, coastal, and sub-county forecast zones remain excluded from county rankings.
Direct county match
35.6%
Mapped from forecast zone
46.7%
Not assigned to county ranking
17.7%
Unresolved forecast zones
68
County-level HHS emPOWER counts for electricity-dependent Medicare beneficiaries in California.
248,766 Medicare beneficiaries in California have claims associated with electricity-dependent medical equipment. (HHS emPOWER, 2026-03)
County-level HHS emPOWER records for this state. Medicare enrollment data only. 58 counties are included in this state snapshot.
Counties with higher concentrations may face elevated community-level demand for backup power during outages. This does not indicate individual medical necessity.
Limitations: Reflects Medicare beneficiaries with claims associated with electricity-dependent medical equipment. Does not capture non-Medicare or uninsured populations. HHS masks cells from 1 to 10 as 11.
The GeneratorChecker Backup Priority Index is a county shortlist for backup planning, combining historically frequent outage-relevant storm activity with larger county counts of electricity-dependent Medicare beneficiaries. It is planning context, not a forecast or an outage guarantee.
BPI version
v1.0
Analysis window
2005-01 to 2024-12
Matched counties
58
Counties qualify for the public BPI only when both signals land at or above the 80th percentile within the state. The shortlist excludes low-base medical counties and counties with less than 30% direct NOAA county matching.
Qualifying counties shown on the page: 5.
Percentiles are computed within California only and are not comparable across states.
1. RIVERSIDE
County FIPS 06065
At-risk Medicare count
19,830
Storm-event records
1,093
Direct NOAA county match
42.0%
2. SAN BERNARDINO
County FIPS 06071
At-risk Medicare count
17,258
Storm-event records
1,659
Direct NOAA county match
53.4%
3. KERN
County FIPS 06029
At-risk Medicare count
7,515
Storm-event records
1,178
Direct NOAA county match
36.7%
4. SAN DIEGO
County FIPS 06073
At-risk Medicare count
17,019
Storm-event records
1,027
Direct NOAA county match
44.3%
5. FRESNO
County FIPS 06019
At-risk Medicare count
6,795
Storm-event records
709
Direct NOAA county match
52.9%
State-level utility structure from official EIA Form 861 data, shown as planning context alongside the weather and medical layers.
Data year
2024
Utilities in scope
32
Residential customers represented
14,126,109
99.7% of in-scope residential customers in California are served by utilities that report complete annual SAIDI and SAIFI pairs to EIA for 2024, excluding major event days.
GeneratorChecker does not blend statewide SAIDI or SAIFI values across IEEE and Other Standard reporters in this public layer.
This block identifies the utility structure behind the state, but it does not score your local grid reliability.
IOU
IOU
Municipal
IOU
Other
Use both modeled hazard rankings and FEMA declaration mix to prioritize realistic outage scenarios.
Lightweight portable kit for evacuation shelters or vehicle staging: medical, communications, and a laptop for coordination.
Load
491W
Target
8h
Minimum
6,500 Wh
Prioritize weight and portability. Check our best-for pages to compare station weights.
Size this scenario in calculatorHome backup during a planned Public Safety Power Shutoff: refrigeration, communications, and air circulation.
Load
365W
Target
24h
Minimum
14,400 Wh
PSPS events can be extended without warning. Solar recharge adds resilience.
Size this scenario in calculatorCritical Note: No single portable power station in our database covers the full 8-hour baseline at this load (6,500 Wh target vs. 6,144 Wh max in our current database). Use solar recharge, load rotation, or expandable systems for longer events.
Treating earthquake ranking as the only signal while wildfire-related shutoffs dominate recent declarations.
Ignoring smoke and sunlight variability when relying on solar-only recharge assumptions.
Sizing for comfort loads first instead of communications, refrigeration, and medical essentials.
When evacuating for wildfire, you need communication, medical devices, and lighting — not a whole-house backup. Here is the minimal battery kit that actually works.
Not all solar panels work with all power stations. MPPT voltage ranges, connector types, and real-world charge times from our database of 20 panels and 33 stations.
For home backup, you need surge capacity for fridge compressors and enough Wh for multi-day outages. Here are the best options from our database of 33 stations.
Composite score: 98.8 / 100
Rating: Very High
Top modeled hazards: Earthquake, Riverine Flooding, Wildfire
Hurricane score: 1.5
Winter Weather score: 38.0
Wildfire score: 96.8
Total (2014-2023): 151
Most recent: 2023-11-21 Hurricane
| Type | Count |
|---|---|
| Fire | 124 |
| Severe Storm | 11 |
| Flood | 6 |
| Earthquake | 3 |
| Biological | 2 |
| Hurricane | 2 |
| Dam/Levee Break | 1 |
| Tropical Storm | 1 |
| Winter Storm | 1 |
Required Wh = (Total Load W × Target Hours / Inverter Derate) × Safety Factor
Inverter derate: 0.70 (30% real-world loss)
Safety factor: 1.15
Rounding: Up to nearest 100 Wh
California has an NRI composite risk score of 98.8 (Very High), with 151 federal declarations from 2014 to 2023. NRI score of 98.8 reflects very high composite modeled hazard exposure; Earthquake ranks as top modeled hazard while Fire drives 124 of 151 FEMA declarations.
For the primary scenario on this page (Evacuation grab-and-go), the estimated minimum is 6,500 Wh for a 8-hour target. Refine this in the calculator with your actual devices.
NRI is a modeled risk index based on hazard exposure, vulnerability, and expected loss. FEMA declarations reflect federally declared incidents. They answer different questions — use both signals together for planning.
Assuming one power station can cover a long shutdown without load prioritization or recharge planning. See the common mistakes section above for more state-specific pitfalls.
