California PSPS Backup Power: What to Buy Before the Next Shutoff

The email arrives two days before. Winds are picking up, humidity is dropping, and your power is going off on Tuesday afternoon.

That's what makes PSPS different from every other outage in America. You get warning.

Most backup power advice is written for storms — sudden, unpredictable, dark skies. California's planned shutoffs are the opposite, and that changes what you should buy.

Three things PSPS gives you that storms don't

Warning. You know it's coming. Everything can be at 100% before it starts.

Sunshine. PSPS happens in dry, clear, windy conditions. That's excellent solar weather. During a hurricane your panels are useless for days; during a PSPS the sun is out the whole time.

Predictability. It happens in the same season, often in the same areas, most years. You can plan a system rather than panic-buy one.

The length problem

PSPS outages run longer than people expect.

The power doesn't come back the moment the wind drops. Crews have to physically inspect the de-energized lines for damage before re-energizing, and that takes time across hundreds of miles.

Plan for two to three days, not an afternoon.

What to buy

The core: 1,000–2,000Wh with real solar input

The EcoFlow DELTA 2 or Anker SOLIX C1000 at the smaller end; the Bluetti AC200L if you want two days without thinking about it.

Fridge, internet, phones, lights, fans. That's the realistic list.

The part that matters more here: panels

Two 200W panels. The Bluetti PV200 uses MC4 connectors so it works across brands rather than locking you in.

With panels recharging during the day, a 1kWh unit covering a fridge overnight becomes a system you can run indefinitely rather than a countdown.

That's the PSPS advantage, and it's real.

The heat question

Let's be direct: a portable battery will not run your air conditioning.

A window unit empties a 2,000Wh pack in a few hours. Central air isn't a conversation.

What works is a box fan — around 75 watts, running for many hours on a modest battery. verify Close the curtains on the sun side, pick one room, and move air.

If someone in your household genuinely cannot tolerate the heat, that's not a portable-battery problem. That's a standby generator or a home battery system, and it's worth knowing that before you spend $1,500 hoping.

Medical equipment and PSPS

California utilities run Medical Baseline programs. If someone in your home depends on powered medical equipment, get registered.

It doesn't guarantee your power stays on — PSPS is a safety shutoff and it applies to everyone — but it does mean extra notification and, in some cases, additional support.

Do that alongside buying a battery, not instead of it.

What we would not buy

Anything under 500Wh as your PSPS plan. A two-to-three-day event needs real capacity. That's a phone box, not a plan.

A big battery with no panels. For a multi-day event in sunny weather, spending everything on capacity and nothing on recharging is the wrong split. A 1kWh unit plus 400W of panel beats a 2kWh unit alone.

A gas generator without thinking hard. PSPS happens during extreme fire risk. Running a combustion engine outdoors in exactly those conditions deserves real caution — and check your local rules, because some areas restrict it during red flag conditions.

The free things

Charge everything the moment the notice arrives.

Fill the freezer with jugs of water — mass holds cold, air doesn't.

Fill your car's tank. A 12V adapter makes it a slow charger, and it's already in the driveway.

Set the fridge colder the day before. You're banking cold into the food itself.

Straight answer

1,000Wh unit plus two 200W panels. That's the PSPS setup for most households, and the panels are what make it work for a three-day event rather than a one-night one.

Buy it in spring, not the week the winds arrive. Prices in this category are far better out of season, and so is availability.