Unplanned
Outages

An Unplanned Outage can occur at any time

That's why SCE maintains crews who can respond to an emergency at any time of the day or night. Unplanned Outages can be caused by severe weather, accidents or natural disasters.

To learn more, visit the SCE Outage Simulation Center.

Introduction:

An emergency unplanned outage is a result of the loss of a section of the power network due to a fault. There are several major categories of faults which may occur without prior indication. Some common types are equipment failure, cable faults, damage by third parties or severe climatic conditions adversely affecting the networks (such as a lightning strike). In these situations, there is no possibility of giving consumers early warning of an impending outage.

What Causes Power Outages?

• Storms: Wind, heat, ice, and snow are the most common causes of widespread power outages.
• Trees: During high winds, or trimming by an untrained professional, limbs can come into contact with power lines, causing power interruptions. Visit Tree Trimming to learn more about safety issues and why planting trees near power lines is a bad idea.
• Vehicles: A vehicle accident with a utility pole can cause a power outage. Check out Power Line Safety for tips on handling these very dangerous situations.
• Earthquakes: Quakes of all sizes can damage electrical facilities and power lines. Visit Earthquakes for more information on staying safe during these natural disasters.
• Animals: Squirrels, birds, and other small animals may cause power lines to short circuit.
• Lightning: When lightning strikes electrical equipment, transmission towers, wires, and poles, outages occur.
• Excavation Digging: Sometimes underground cables are disturbed by digging. Check out Safety in the Yard and stay safe while gardening or placing fence posts.
• High Power Demand. During heat waves and other times of unusually high power demand, overburdened electric cables, transformers, and other electrical equipment can melt and fail.