Campus leaders prepare for possible power outage

Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019 at 4:57 p.m.

With recent changes to California law, regional utility officials have warned that power may temporarily have to be shut off to customers in areas of high fire risk beginning Thursday, Oct. 10 to mitigate the risk of wildfires during upcoming red-flag warning conditions.

Although some areas in our region have received notification of potential Public Safety Power Shutoff (see San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison websites), at this time CSUSM has not received a notification that the campus will be affected. 

However, conditions may change, and we ask that all students, faculty and staff closely monitor their email, texts and social media for updates. CSUSM and CSUSM at Temecula remain OPEN for all operations until otherwise notified.

In case of a Public Safety Power Shutoff that directly impacts CSUSM campuses, the University Police Department will send an alert via the Emergency Notification System. All current students and employees are registered to receive alerts. Parents and family members who would like to opt in may do so online.

As a reminder, should a campus closure go into effect, please stay tuned to local media and verified social media accounts. CSUSM will provide timely updates via email and will post to www.csusm.edu, Twitter and Facebook.

You may also monitor SDG&E’s website for potential outages and active outages, as well Southern California Edison’s website for potential and active outages.

What you should know about Public Safety Power Shutoffs:

• Utility providers will make every effort to provide a minimum 24-hour notice before interrupting service.
• Outages are authorized to last up to five days.
• Campus will remain closed for the duration of the outage.
• We encourage all campus community members to have a safety plan in place.

What you can do to prepare for an outage:

• Unplug any unnecessary appliances and equipment such as computers, printers, lamps, coffee makers and microwaves to reduce stress on the utility grid.
• Keep refrigerators and freezers closed to reduce the risk of spoiled food.
• Although campus servers may be functioning, saving work to your device during an outage reduces the risk of lost data. Locally saved information should be transferred to shared drives after power is restored.
• Be sure you keep your vehicle’s gas tank full as gas pumps may be affected by outages.
• Keep a flashlight in an easily accessible area.
• If possible, have cash on hand as ATMs may not function and some businesses may operate on a cash-only basis.
• Keep your cellphone and laptop fully charged and use them on “low-power” mode until the risk of shutdown is lifted.
• Consider investing in a battery backup or solar charger for your cellphone.
• Make plans to stay with friends or family during an outage.
• Check on your friends and neighbors.

If you or anyone you know in the CSUSM community could use some assistance at this time, please connect with our campus resources.

For students needing support, contact the Cougar Care Network at 760-750-7627.

For all faculty, if you are without power at home or circumstances are such that you cannot come to campus, but campus is still open, please contact your dean’s office to make appropriate arrangements.

For all staff, if you are without power at home or circumstances are such that you cannot come to campus, but campus is still open, please contact your supervisor or Human Resources at 760-750-4418 to make appropriate arrangements.

Media Contact

Christine Vaughan, Director of Communications
cvaughan@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-4409