When the Power Goes Off: Does Your Community Know What's Happening?

If you work in utility communications, you know what PSPS means. Public Safety Power Shutoffs. When wildfire risk is high, utilities turn off the power to prevent their equipment from starting a fire. It's a necessary safety measure. But here's what I keep thinking about: when the power goes off, who knows why?

In Santa Rosa and Sonoma County, the 2017 Tubbs Fire was one of the most destructive wildfires in California history. Large Latino and indigenous agricultural worker communities were among the hardest to reach with emergency alerts. In Paradise and Butte County, the 2018 Camp Fire took 85 lives. Many of the communities most vulnerable to fire impacts were also the communities least likely to receive emergency notifications in their language.

Across the Central Valley, from Fresno to Bakersfield to Stockton, families faced PSPS events with little or no warning in their language. The alerts went out. The communities didn't receive them.

The 1,000-Speaker Rule

Under CPUC Decision D.20-03-004, electric utilities are required to conduct in-language outreach before, during, and after wildfires to any community where 1,000 or more people speak a given language. That includes indigenous Mexican languages like Mixteco and Zapoteco. Utilities must work with community-based organizations and use multiple outreach channels, not just a translated flyer. This is a significant regulation. But regulations are only as good as their execution.

Reaching the 1,000-speaker threshold means identifying the community. It means finding the trusted organizations already working there. It means using the right format, whether that's a community meeting, a radio spot, or a WhatsApp message, not a PDF posted on a website.

In communities with significant Hmong, Punjabi, and Vietnamese populations, emergency communications in English and Spanish alone missed entire neighborhoods. These are families living in the same service territory, facing the same fire risk, who simply didn't get the message.

What I've Learned

I've spent 25 years in communications. I've worked with government agencies, utilities, school districts, and nonprofits. The pattern is always the same. The agencies that succeed are the ones that build relationships before the emergency, not after.

When you engage the community at the onset, they become advocates. When you only reach out after a crisis, they become critics.

PSPS preparedness isn't just about having a plan. It's about whether that plan reaches every community in the service territory. Not just the ones who subscribe to English-language alerts or follow the utility on Twitter.

As we head into another wildfire season, the question isn't whether the shutoffs will happen. They will. The question is whether every community will know what's going on, why it's happening, and what to do next.

For too many families, the answer is still no.

We invite you to read our blog: Why California Utilities Need Cultural Brokers, Not Just Translators

Angelica Urquijo is the CEO and Founder of The Imagen Group, a multicultural marketing and communications firm based in Los Angeles. With 25 years of public relations experience in government, non-profit, and corporate sectors, The Imagen Group helps utilities, water agencies, and government organizations bridge the gap between regulation and community trust.