PG&E Is Cutting Power to 70,000 California Homes This Week — On Purpose. Here's How to Actually Prep
This week's blackouts are planned — and that's the good news
PG&E says it will cut power to roughly 70,000 customers across 29 California counties from Wednesday through Saturday this week — on purpose, as a wildfire precaution during dry, gusty winds. Planned blackouts are the rare kind of emergency you actually get to prepare for. The utility even tells customers what to do: keep food cold, keep devices charged, have backup power ready.
If your home is in the shutoff zone, here's the honest version of that advice — what actually works, what to skip, and the math behind it.
What a power station can really run during a planned shutoff
A planned shutoff typically lasts one to several days. The question that decides everything: how big a battery do you need?
- A 1 kWh station (≈850 Wh usable) keeps a modern fridge going roughly 12–24 hours, depending on ambient heat and door openings. (Full math in our fridge-clock guide.)
- A phone + laptop + LED lamps + Wi-Fi router: a 1 kWh unit handles all of that for a full day, easily.
- Medical devices matter here: PG&E says about 3,920 of the affected customers are Medical Baseline — people whose homes depend on powered medical equipment. A CPAP draws roughly 30–60W; a 1 kWh station runs it all night with capacity to spare. If that's you, this is not optional equipment — check your device's wattage against the station's continuous output rating.
- What it can't do: electric heating (a space heater is 1,500W and would drain a 1 kWh station in under an hour), electric stoves, whole-home air conditioning. Plan those separately — dress warm, cook with a camping stove.
Why a battery beats a gas generator for a planned shutoff
PG&E's own advice mentions having "generators on hand" — and gas generators do work. But for a short, announced shutoff, they have real drawbacks: you need fresh fuel stored safely, they can't run indoors or in a garage (a man died of carbon-monoxide poisoning this week running a gas generator in his garage after Hurricane Isaias — it happens every storm), and they're loud enough to annoy every neighbor in earshot.
A portable power station is indoor-safe, silent, and starts instantly — exactly what a 2–3 day planned shutoff calls for. Recharge it from a wall outlet before the shutoff window, top it off with a solar panel during the day, and you're covered.
The three stations worth looking at
All US-voltage (110V), all LiFePO4 (thousands of cycles, no toxic fumes, safe indoors):
- 1000W 1024Wh LiFePO4 Portable Power Station — $399.99 — the sweet spot for a planned shutoff: fridge + phones + lamps + router for a day, then recharge.
- 1200W 1008Wh LiFePO4 Portable Power Station — $549.99 — extra output headroom for surge loads like a fridge compressor kick (800–1,200W startup).
- 1000Wh LiFePO4 Portable Power Station — $569.99 — solid all-rounder for home backup with solar recharge.
Prices include free shipping. Order before the shutoff window and charge it the night before — a backup battery that arrives after the lights go out is just a box.
The checklist (do this today if you're in the zone)
1. Freeze water bottles now — free thermal mass that keeps the fridge cold longer.
2. Charge every device and every power bank.
3. If you have medical devices, confirm your station covers its wattage with margin to spare.
4. Keep the station inside (it's safe there), and never run a gas generator indoors or in a garage.
5. If you have a solar panel, set it out during the day — free recharging while the grid is down.
Planned blackouts are an inconvenience you can see coming. That's the whole advantage — use it.
Related: This week’s shutoffs are a warm-up act. Read why El Niño’s wild swings mean more winter outages — and the electric-heat trap to avoid.