Did you know that our grid serves more than 15 million people across our 50,000 square-mile area? To improve power reliability for today and for many years to come, we're strengthening our electricity distribution grid. The multiyear, multibillion-dollar investment plan includes upgrades to make power more dependable, safer, and cleaner, along with new technologies that enable us to integrate more clean energy.
We understand that our improvement activities may be an inconvenience, and we thank you for your patience while we’re at work in your community.
You may have seen crews in your neighborhood lately. As part of our commitment to delivering reliable electric service today and well into the future, we’re upgrading and maintaining infrastructure. This includes electrical poles, wires, equipment, and underground facilities.
In some cases, heavy equipment such as cranes may be used, and there may be noise associated with construction activities.
Sometimes crews may need to enter your property to do the job. It may be inspecting, repairing, or replacing poles or other electrical equipment, or it could be trimming or removing trees or shrubs for everyone’s safety. We will attempt to notify you before entering your property.
Here are tips to keep in mind when crews need to work on your property:
- Secure your pets (for example, leave them indoors) for their safety
- Leave gates or fences unlocked
In some situations, work may result in street lane closures, parking restrictions, and sidewalk closures. To ensure vehicle and pedestrian safety, our crews and contractors will use traffic control signs and crew members with flags.
We understand that maintenance outages are an inconvenience to you. To protect the safety of our crews, it may be necessary to temporarily turn off the power for repairs or upgrades. We take every precaution to reduce the inconvenience, such as by carefully isolating the outage to the smallest-possible area, and completing the work as quickly as we safely can.
We will notify you in advance of a maintenance outage.
- Letters are mailed to you for receipt 3 to 8 days prior to the outage.
- If you are signed up for outage alerts, you’ll receive automated notifications several days in advance by your choice of email, mobile text, or automated phone call.
Learn more at our Outage Center >
Find outage by ZIP code or “planned/maintenance outage number” >
Occasionally, an SCE employee or contractor may come to your door regarding construction activities or to leave a door hanger or letter. Most, but not all, of our employees will be wearing uniforms with an employee identification card. Our authorized contractors will have at least one of the following items for identification: a badge, hard hat, uniform, and vehicle.
SCE is regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The CPUC regulates the design, location, and maintenance responsibilities of utilities as it relates to our infrastructure.
SCE maintains franchise agreements with cities and counties across its service area, which gives SCE the right to construct and utilize our facilities “in the public streets, alleys, ways, and places” within the local jurisdiction.
The California Public Utilities Commission's (CPUC) Rule 20 sets policies and procedures for the conversion of overhead power lines and other equipment to underground facilities, a process called "undergrounding." Rule 20 determines the level of ratepayer funding for different undergrounding arrangements.
Rule 20C enables property owners to pay for undergrounding electric lines and equipment if neither Rule 20A nor 20B applies. To find out how to begin a Rule 20C project, please contact Talisa Lee at (714) 285-4336 or at Talisa.Lee@sce.com. Local governments can contact their SCE region manager or Rule 20 project manager.
Trees, shrubs, and other vegetation can cause safety hazards and power outages if they grow into or near power lines. SCE inspects, trims, and remove trees and vegetation near power lines to keep the public safe.
Reliability Information at Your Fingertips
We track and monitor outages across our service territory, and measure our “system reliability” from this data.
About Electric Magnetic Fields
Over the past 40+ years, we have supported, funded, and conducted EMF health and engineering research.
Medical Life Support Equipment
If you or someone in your household requires the regular use of electrically-powered medical equipment or other qualifying medical devices, you may be eligible for additional baseline allocation and advance notification of upcoming rotating or PSPS outages.
Investing in Electric Infrastructure
We’re building a smarter grid to make power more dependable, safer, and cleaner.
What’s in an Electric Pole?
You may be surprised at the complex role each distribution pole plays in the electric system.
Video: How We Restore Power
This video offers a look into the steps we take to repair damage and restore power to communities and homes.