For an SCE household planning for blackouts, past outage records can help frame useful questions about backup power. They cannot tell you exactly how long the next interruption will last or how much battery storage your home needs.
A qualifying solar-plus-battery PPA can help eligible homeowners obtain equipment without an upfront purchase. A stronger proposal connects the household’s priorities to realistic operating scenarios rather than treating a regional outage average as a promise.
Find the right history for your home
SCE’s reliability page provides annual reports and links organized by county, city and tribal area. For reliability metrics specific to a home or business, SCE directs customers to CircuitReliability@sce.com.
The page explains two measures: SAIDI describes annual average customer interruption time, while SAIFI describes annual average interruption frequency. Its sustained-outage definition covers interruptions longer than five minutes. These are historical statistics, not an address-specific forecast or a list of every brief flicker.
Our recommendation is to request the relevant period and geographic scope, and ask which outage categories or exclusions apply before comparing figures. A broad average does not establish a rising trend at your property.
Build a household record alongside the report
Keep a simple log of interruptions you experience: date, approximate start and end, utility outage number if available, and the appliances or activities affected. Record a cause only when the utility confirms it; otherwise mark it unknown.
For example, suppose your notes show that a short interruption stopped a work call, while a longer one affected refrigeration and evening lighting. Those observations suggest different backup priorities even without a prediction about future outage frequency. This is a hypothetical planning example, not a report of local events.
Ask the designer which essential circuits need continuity and which discretionary loads you would pause. Our home-office battery and UPS guide explains a related equipment question; its SDG&E-specific references do not govern an SCE installation.
Compare scenarios instead of promising one duration
Request a load assessment for a short daytime interruption, an evening without solar production and a longer interruption with limited solar recharge. These are planning scenarios, not forecasts. Have the proposal state starting charge, supported appliances and any assumed solar contribution.
PG&E’s general battery guidance explains why stored energy, demand and sunlight affect duration. Ordinary grid-tied solar alone generally does not provide outage power. Recharging a battery from solar during a blackout requires compatible backup equipment and suitable sunlight.
The design must also support simultaneous appliance demand and startup requirements. More historical outage minutes do not, by themselves, specify a battery’s required power output. Ask what your household should do if stored energy runs low and when an alternative place to stay would be appropriate.
Use live utility status during an interruption
For current conditions, use SCE’s address-specific outage status. An annual reliability report cannot confirm that your address is currently affected or provide its restoration estimate.
This preparedness explainer was researched as of October 20, 2026, at 8:02 p.m. Pacific. It is not a live alert service or an announcement of a scheduled blackout.
Put the backup assumptions beside the PPA terms
The CPUC solar guide explains that the PPA provider owns the solar system and sells its generated electricity. Confirm qualification, any upfront charges, ongoing rate, escalator, term, battery inclusion and ownership, service responsibilities and transfer provisions. Remaining utility charges and separate battery fees belong in the comparison too.
No upfront purchase does not mean free electricity, guaranteed savings or unlimited backup. Bring your outage notes and essential-load priorities to a West Coast Alternatives consultation so a proposal can address the experiences that matter to your household.