Power Outage Plan for Mountain Households

The short version

• Sign up for alerts now, not during the storm. Get outage notifications from PG&E and emergency alerts from CruzAware, and save PG&E's 24-hour outage line, 1-800-743-5002, in your phone.
• Treat every downed line as live. Stay back, call 911, then call PG&E's emergency line at 1-800-743-5000. That's a different number from the outage line.
• Run a generator outside only, more than 20 feet from windows, doors, and vents, never inside a home or garage. Put a carbon monoxide detector near every sleeping area.
• On a well? Store water. No power means no pump. A common rule is one gallon per person per day, and more when outages can run for days.
• Know who needs a check-in. Trade phone numbers before storm season with neighbors who are older, live alone, are on wells, or depend on medical equipment.

The first big storm of the season usually announces itself the same way up here: the wind funnels up the canyon, a fir comes down across a line somewhere along Highway 9, and the lights blink once and quit. Anyone who's spent a winter in Boulder Creek knows outages come with the territory, and a little planning turns a three-day one from a crisis into an inconvenience.

A solid outage plan for a Boulder Creek household comes down to five things you set up before the wind picks up: alerts from PG&E and the county, a safe way to run backup power, stored water if you're on a well, a plan for food and medicine, and a habit of checking on the neighbors. Most of it takes one weekend afternoon. If you only do one thing today, sign up for outage alerts and save PG&E's 24-hour outage line, 1-800-743-5002, in your phone. When the lights go out, PG&E's outage map and alerts are the source of truth for what's happening and when power might come back, and even their estimates can change as crews find the actual damage.

If You See a Downed Line

Assume every downed line is live.

1. Stay back and keep everyone away from it, including pets. Don't touch it, and don't touch anything it's touching, like a fence, a puddle, or a branch.
2. Don't drive over it.
3. Call 911. Then call PG&E at 1-800-743-5000, the 24-hour emergency line.

That is a different number from the outage-reporting line further down this page. For a line on the ground, use 911 and 1-800-743-5000.

Know the Three Kinds of Outages

Most of our outages are storm outages: wind, falling trees and limbs, or equipment trouble. They arrive with little warning, and restoration in steep, wooded terrain can take longer than it does in town because crews have to find the damage before they can fix it.

The second kind is a Public Safety Power Shutoff, or PSPS. That's a planned shutoff PG&E calls during dry, windy, high fire-risk weather so its lines can't spark a wildfire. PG&E says it does its best to alert customers ahead of time by email, phone call, and text, but the company also notes that in some cases the first alert may not come until the same day the power goes off. The California Public Utilities Commission oversees these events and describes them as a measure of last resort. Either way, the practical lesson is the same: don't count on long notice. Have your plan ready before fire season, not during it.

The third kind is the one most people here have felt without knowing its name: Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings, or EPSS. In high fire-risk areas, PG&E sets its lines to trip instantly on any contact. A branch, an animal, anything. The power then stays off until crews patrol the entire line, which in this terrain is not quick. PG&E turns the settings on based on daily wildfire risk, most likely May through November. That's why fire-season outages in the San Lorenzo Valley are sudden, frequent, and long, and why they can happen on a clear day with no PSPS announced.

Set Up Alerts Before You Need Them

Start with PG&E. If the account is in your name, you automatically get outage notifications for your service address, and you can fine-tune how you're contacted through your online account. If you rent, or you want updates on a parent's place or a second property, use PG&E's address-level alerts: search any address on the outage map, select "Get outage updates," and enter your phone or email. You don't need an online account for that, and PSPS address alerts are available by call and text too.

Then add the county layer. CruzAware is Santa Cruz County's alert and warning system, and it's how you'll hear about evacuations, road closures, and other emergencies that often travel with big outages. Sign up at cruzaware.org and pick how you want to be reached. The county also lists a quick option to text your ZIP code to 888777 for basic text alerts. That 888777 number is Nixle, a separate service the county also uses. Signing up for one does not sign you up for the other, so if you want both, do both.

Finally, report what you see. If your power's been out a while and nothing shows on the map, report it through the PG&E Outage Center or call 1-800-743-5002. Outages in the far reaches of the district sometimes need a phone call before anyone knows a tap line is dead.

Generator Safety Comes First

A generator is the difference between a rough week and a manageable one, but it's also the most dangerous thing in this plan, so be direct with yourself about it.

1. Never run a generator inside your home or garage, even with the doors and windows open.
2. Run it outside only, more than 20 feet from any windows, doors, and vents.
3. Put a battery-powered or battery-backup carbon monoxide detector near every sleeping area, and check it when you check your smoke alarms.

Those rules come from the CDC. Carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless, it kills more than 400 Americans a year, and people who are asleep can die before they ever feel sick. Ready.gov gives the same 20-foot rule and adds a few worth keeping: keep the generator dry and out of the rain, let it cool before refueling, and use heavy-duty extension cords rated for the load.

The generator isn't the only source of carbon monoxide in a cold house. A few things belong outside, away from windows, doors, and vents, no matter how cold it gets:

• Your gas stove or oven. Never use it to heat the house.
• A charcoal grill or camp stove. Never bring one indoors or into a garage, not even to cook.
• Anything else that burns fuel. If it makes a flame, it makes carbon monoxide, and it belongs outside.

The second rule is about your wiring. Never plug a generator into a wall outlet or connect it directly to your panel without proper equipment. PG&E's backup power safety page is blunt about this: power that backfeeds from your generator into the lines can injure the crews working to restore your neighborhood. If you want the generator to run household circuits rather than extension cords, have an electrician install a transfer switch or equivalent equipment that isolates your home from the grid. And store fuel outside the house, never indoors.

If you're considering a battery system instead, the same isolation rules apply, and an electrician or installer should handle the interconnection. Batteries avoid the carbon monoxide risk, which is a real advantage in a house full of people waiting out a storm.

PG&E Programs That Help Pay for Backup Power

Two PG&E programs are worth checking before you buy anything.

The Portable Battery Program offers no-cost pre-qualification to Medical Baseline or Self-Identified Vulnerable customers who rely on a medical device, assistive technology, or durable medical equipment, and who have had at least one PSPS since 2024 or three or more EPSS outages since 2024. If you pre-qualify, PG&E's program partners reach out to assess your household and your equipment.

The Generator and Battery Rebate Program pays a $300 base rebate, with up to $200 more for customers on CARE or FERA. It covers addresses in high fire-threat districts or on an EPSS circuit. Eligible equipment is a portable battery between 290Wh and 1,000Wh, or a CARB-compliant portable generator. One rebate per household. You have to apply within 12 months of purchase or by December 31, 2026, whichever comes first. If you bought equipment a while ago, that end-of-2026 date is the one to watch.

Water When the Well Pump Is Down

If you're on a private well, no electricity means no pump, which means no water. Plan for stored water as a matter of course: a common rule of thumb is one gallon per person per day, and more is better when outages can run multiple days. Cases of bottled water work, and so do food-grade containers you fill and rotate a couple of times a year. Keep separate buckets or jugs for flushing toilets, since that's where household water use quietly adds up. A pressure tank buys you a little water after the power drops, but don't count on much.

Running the well off a generator is not a plug-in job. A submersible well pump is typically 240 volts and hardwired, which means a properly installed transfer switch and a generator sized by an electrician, not an extension cord run out from the porch. Sort that out before storm season if you want it, because nobody is coming to wire it during one.

Septic Systems

If your septic system has a pump or an alarm panel, it stops working when the power does. Treat wastewater as limited for the duration: minimize water use, skip the laundry, and go easy on flushing. Gravity-fed systems generally keep draining without power, so the useful thing is to know which kind you have before storm season rather than during one. If you're not sure, a septic contractor can tell you.

If you're on San Lorenzo Valley Water District water, your situation is different from a well household, but storing some water is still smart. Treatment and pumping infrastructure need power too, and storms that cause outages can also cause line breaks. If you have questions about how the district handles outages in your neighborhood, call them at 831-338-2153 and ask. No system can promise uninterrupted service in a storm, so a few stored gallons is cheap insurance either way.

Food, Refrigeration, and Medicine

The rules here are simpler than most people think, and they come straight from foodsafety.gov. An unopened refrigerator keeps food safe for about 4 hours. A full freezer holds a safe temperature for about 48 hours, and a half-full one for about 24. So the strategy is: don't open the doors unless you have to, and eat from the pantry first. Perishables like meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and leftovers that spend more than 2 hours above 40 degrees should be tossed. Frozen food that still has ice crystals, or that reads 40 degrees or below, can be safely refrozen. Never taste something to decide whether it's safe. When in doubt, throw it out.

An appliance thermometer in the fridge and one in the freezer take the guesswork out of all of this, and a cooler with ice extends your window if the outage stretches on.

Refrigerated medication has its own clock. Ready.gov advises discarding refrigerated medicine after a day without power unless the label says otherwise, and calling your doctor or pharmacist right away for a replacement. If your household depends on any medication that's temperature-sensitive, ask your pharmacist ahead of time exactly how long it lasts warm, and write the answer on the box.

One more habit that pays off: when an outage starts, unplug electronics and appliances. Power sometimes comes back with surges that can damage what's plugged in. Leave one lamp on so you know when service returns.

If Someone Depends on Powered Medical Equipment

If anyone in your home relies on electricity for medical needs, get them enrolled in PG&E's Medical Baseline Program now. Eligibility is based on medical need, not income. Enrollees get extra electricity at the lowest rate tier, and, more importantly for us, extra advance notifications before a PSPS. PG&E sends Medical Baseline customers additional alerts at 48 hours, at 24 hours, and again just before the power goes off.

A medical practitioner certifies the application, and you can start it online. Two details trip people up. The application has to be submitted within 90 days of the practitioner's signature, so don't let a signed form sit in a drawer. And enrollment has to be renewed: permanent conditions self-recertify every four years, while non-permanent conditions recertify every two years with a practitioner. PG&E's Medical Baseline line is 1-877-660-6789 if you have questions about either.

Enrollment is not a backup power plan by itself, though. Talk with the medical provider about how long each device runs on battery, what the fallback is, and at what point you'd relocate to somewhere with power. Write that threshold down before you need it.

Check on the Neighbors

This is the part of the plan Boulder Creek already does well. Know which of your neighbors are older, live alone, are on wells, or depend on medical equipment, and trade phone numbers before storm season. A text thread for your road costs nothing and works as long as someone has signal. When an outage hits, a quick knock on the right door can matter more than everything else on this page.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I find out when my power will be back on?

Check the PG&E Outage Center map or call the 24-hour outage line at 1-800-743-5002. PG&E posts estimated restoration times once crews assess the damage, and those estimates can change. Nobody else, including this site, can promise a restoration time, so treat PG&E's latest update as the answer.

Will PG&E warn me before a Public Safety Power Shutoff?

PG&E says it tries to notify customers ahead of a PSPS by email, phone, and text, but it also says the first alert may sometimes come the same day power is turned off. Keep your contact info current on your PG&E account, sign up for address alerts if you're not the account holder, and have your supplies ready before fire weather arrives.

How far from the house does a generator need to be?

More than 20 feet from any windows, doors, and vents, per the CDC, and never inside a home or garage, even with everything open. Pair it with a battery-powered carbon monoxide detector near every sleeping area. If you want it wired to the house, have an electrician install a transfer switch so it can't backfeed into the lines.

How long is food safe when the power's out?

About 4 hours in an unopened refrigerator, about 48 hours in a full freezer, and about 24 in a half-full one, according to foodsafety.gov. Toss perishables that spend more than 2 hours above 40 degrees, and never taste food to test it.

What if someone in my house uses an oxygen machine or other powered medical device?

Enroll them in PG&E's Medical Baseline Program for extra notifications before planned shutoffs, and work out a written backup plan with their medical provider: battery runtimes, a charging plan, and the point at which you'd move them somewhere with power.

Last reviewed June 21, 2026. This article links to official sources from PG&E, the California Public Utilities Commission, the CDC, Ready.gov, foodsafety.gov, and Santa Cruz County. When the power is out, PG&E's outage map and official alerts are the current source of truth for restoration times.

An outage plan is one piece of getting a mountain home ready for winter. Fold it into the seasonal rhythm with the Boulder Creek home maintenance calendar, sort out who serves your address in the utilities guide, and keep the Residents guide handy for county contacts and emergency resources in one place.